Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh has revealed Eddie Jones’ scathing criticism of three Wallabies legends was ‘completely unfair’ after he split with the coach.
Jones’ second stint as Wallabies mentor was an undeniable disaster, with just two World Cup victories meaning Australia missed out on the quarter-finals for the first time ever.
Before quitting, Jones declared that Wallabies greats Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley were not the right kind of ‘role models’ for the players in the national side – and as far as Waugh was concerned, that went too far.
“I think it’s a completely unfair comment,” said the rugby boss.
“Across Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley, I think there are 280 to 300 Test matches between those three. They have all put their bodies on the line over long periods of time and are role models for not only their peers, but also for young boys and girls coming through the system.
Eddie Jones did many things to infuriate Aussie fans, but his comments about three Wallabies legends crossed the line as far as Rugby Australia’s CEO is concerned
Rugby boss and Wallabies great Phil Waugh (pictured) hit out at Jones over his stance on Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley
“So I think it’s an absolutely unfair comment on those players, given what they’ve contributed to rugby.”
Waugh admits it is unacceptable that the Wallabies fail to advance out of the group stages for the first time in World Cup history.
“The Wallabies’ performance – and that is our shop window – has not been good enough,” he said after confirming Eddie Jones’ shaky 10-month reign was over.
‘So for all supporters we feel the pain. We feel that responsibility, we feel like we’ve let them down.
‘I apologize and I did that a number of times, close to the performance, because it was bitterly disappointing.
‘Now we must move forward, with the same direction, the same vision and the same passion.
‘We still have a lot to make up for by building trust with our stakeholders, with the community.’
And moving forward doesn’t mean rushing to appoint Jones’ replacement.
Waugh pointed out that the Wallabies legends (Michael Hooper, left and Quade Cooper, pictured) have played hundreds of Tests between them and are good role models.
Waugh says Rugby Australia will not rush into appointing Jones’ replacement as the code struggles to recover from his shock spell at the helm
‘Look, it’s all very raw. I think everyone is a candidate,” Waugh said after the names of outgoing All Blacks coach Ian Foster, ex-Wallabies boss Michael Cheika and former Australian assistants Stephen Larkham and Dan McKellar were mentioned.
‘We are open to the best coach for our system and our team in terms of high quality.
‘We want to make sure we get the right panel together. Once we have that panel together, run a process. Our next test won’t be until July next year.
“So we have time.”
While acknowledging that RA is still in a challenging financial position, which is why Jones chose to jump ship, Waugh said hosting the British and Irish Lions in 2025, the Men’s World Cup in 2027 and the global showpiece for women in 2029 would make the governing body strong again. .
“A lot of good things are happening,” the retired grandmaster said.
‘We won the World Cup hosting rights for ’27 and ’29, the Wallaroos beat France, a top three team, for the first time ever on Saturday night, the sevens teams continue to succeed.
“There’s a lot of great activity in the community games. So rugby is healthy.
‘(But) we have to win between the World Cups and not be purely dependent on World Cup success.’
Waugh apologized to rugby fans over the team’s ‘bitterly disappointing’ performance under Jones, who won just two of nine tests while in charge of the side for the second time.
Despite the Wallabies having fallen to a low of number 10 in the rankings after only beating minnows Georgia and Portugal in a dismal two-from-nine Test record under Jones this year, Waugh is confident there will be a turnaround hands.
“We saw the performance in Dunedin against the All Blacks for 65 minutes where we were up front,” he said of Australia’s 23-20 defeat to New Zealand three weeks before the World Cup.
“The All Blacks pushed the Springboks and could possibly have won the World Cup final.
“So my take on all these aspects is that you’re never as far away as you think you could be, and you’re never as far ahead as you think you could be when you’re winning.
“So when it comes to the lack of direction, I would strongly dispute that, because I think we have a very strong direction, a very strong vision.”
It is unclear whether Jones will receive any payout.
“We have a release agreement with Eddie and the reason why we took some time to make our announcement is because we were working on that release agreement,” Waugh said.
“I think I’ve been fairly transparent about the fact that the divorce has put Rugby Australia in a very good place financially.”