Eddie Jones at Super Rugby season launch, already scouting
SYDNEY (AP) — Eddie Jones is already in Rugby World Cup selection mode.
The launch Wednesday was for Australia’s five franchises in the Super Rugby Pacific competition, which kicks off next week.
One of the main topics, though, was the global tournament in France starting in September. With just five test matches on Australia's schedule ahead of that, Jones will be using player form for their clubs in Super Rugby Pacific as a basis for selection in his first months back into the job as Wallabies head coach.
Stephen Larkham, who won the World Cup in 1999 and was part of the squad that Jones guided to the final in 2003, is coaching the Canberra-based Brumbies for this Super Rugby Pacific season. He said Jones would be keeping the players “on edge” when it comes to World Cup selection.
“It’s going to be a challenge for the guys who probably thought they were secured of a spot for the World Cup,” Larkham told Australian Associated Press at the SRP launch. "Eddie is one of those coaches that really looks at a player’s performance with a fine-tooth comb and he does a lot of background checking on his players.
“The players aren’t going to be cognizant of what Eddie is looking for, but at some stage he’ll definitely be giving them feedback.”
Larkham's Brumbies will take on the New South Wales Waratahs on Feb. 24 in one of a series of first-round derbies, with the Christchurch-based Crusaders against the Hamilton-based Chiefs earlier that day. The Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika will meet at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand on Feb. 25, kicking off a day that features the Highlanders against the Blues, the Queensland Reds hosting the Wellington-based Hurricanes and Melbourne Rebels traveling to Perth to play Western Force.
Brumbies prop Allan Alaalatoa is a frontrunner for one of the 33 places in the Wallabies squad for the World Cup, and he thinks having Jones closely monitoring every game will be a motivation for Australian players.
“I think you’ll see a lift across the board in a World Cup year,” Alaalatoa said. “With a new coach, there’s a lot of positions up for grabs.
“There’s definitely nerves because you’re unsure, but there’s an excitement in having a coach who knows how to win.”
Jones' first test at home in his second stint as Australia’s head coach will be against Argentina in Sydney on July 15, two weeks before the Wallabies host the New Zealand All Blacks in Melbourne.
Australia’s opening test of the season will be against World Cup champion South Africa in Pretoria on July 8.
The 63-year-old Jones coached the Wallabies to the World Cup final in 2003, which they lost to England, before being fired in 2005.
He’s back in charge until 2027 after replacing Dave Rennie, who led the Wallabies to wins in just five of 14 test matches in 2022.
Rennie was contracted though until the end of the World Cup, which starts on Sept. 8, but Rugby Australia officials moved to sign Jones when he was fired as England head coach in December after a poor recent run in England — a 2022 record of six losses, one draw and five wins in 12 tests.
Jones won the Six Nations three times with England and racked up 18 straight wins through his mostly successful tenure, which included multiple wins over the Wallabies.
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