Wallabies assistant blames watered-down Super Rugby competition for shocking capitulation at World Cup

Wallabies assistant coach Pierre-Henry Broncan has laid the blame for Australia’s disastrous World Cup campaign not on coach Eddie Jones but on the Super Rugby competition, saying the lack of world-class competition had exposed test-level players .

Broncan, a Frenchman, said the exit of South African teams – and those from Japan and Argentina – from Super Rugby post-Covid had a direct impact on the fortunes of the Wallabies.

After seeing the pressure put on teams fighting for survival in Europe’s top leagues, he said Australian players are playing against each other and New Zealanders are poor breeding ground for international players.

“A big difference between the Top 14 and the European Cup and your Super Rugby competition in Australia, with New Zealand, is the pressure,” Broncan told reporters.

‘In France we are under pressure every match because huge things are happening around relegation or qualification. It is very important for the French and European teams.

Wallabies assistant coach Pierre-Henry Broncan says the French domestic competition is much stronger than the Australian

Coach Eddie Jones has taken most of the blame for the Wallabies crashing out of the Rugby World Cup in the pool stages

‘There is no relegation in Super Rugby, we just have to play to win Super Rugby. It’s a good thing… but only against teams from New Zealand and Australia.

‘You will see the next matches in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the World Cup, there will be enormous pressure on the pitch. Many games end with a very close score between the two teams and the last five or ten minutes can win or lose a game. But today that is not the case for our team.

‘At half-time against Wales I was sure we were going to win the game. Ten points is nothing, but we start the second half and we concede a penalty and 13 points and it’s over. We have to change that in the future.’

Since the start of 2022, Australia have played in 10 Tests where the margin was five points or less, and lost seven points.

Wallabies players such as former Brumbies half Nic White have been forced to play in a weaker competition which has impacted the Australian team

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) left Super Rugby in 2020, with teams like the Cats – pictured playing the Waratahs – moving to the Northern Hemisphere

Broncan said after the Brumbies, who provided six Wallabies for the team against Wales, the rest of the Australian teams were below the standard required to produce players capable of thriving in Test rugby.

“Brumbies is a good way for the team because they have a team that is very strong and can beat the New Zealand team today. For the other teams in Australia it was very tough and difficult to win (against) the New Zealand teams. It is a rarity and we need to change that first,” he said.

“When you had Super Rugby with the South African teams, it was a tough competition, a very tough competition. The current South African teams play in Europe and that was an advantage for the Northern Hemisphere.’

Amid ongoing speculation over the future of Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, who has denied ties to Japan, Broncan was confident Jones would not leave the Australian team.

‘Yes of course. I’m sure because he’s a great coach. I understand everything about it and I think in his mind now he wants to find the best solution for the Australian national team and his country. He is the right person.

“It’s not just a problem of Eddie Jones or today’s players, I’m sure.”