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If there was any question about how Wallabies players feel about the Eddie Jones appointment, there is now no question.
Scrum half Nic White has admitted he is ‘grinding’ about playing under new manager Eddie Jones, after Dave Rennie was sacked earlier this month following a poor 2022 in which the team won just five of 14 testing.
White, of course, was speaking with his tongue firmly in cheek, but he certainly still gives an idea of the mood of the Wallaby camp just months away from a World Cup.
Jones, who previously coached the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, is known for his intense and uncompromising approach to both coaches and players, and White said the players were well aware of his reputation.
Wallabies halfback Nic White has admitted he was ‘beating himself up’ for new Australian manager Eddie Jones, who is famous for his uncompromising approach.
“Eddie Jones, (is) an amazing coach, a guy that a lot of us admire what he’s done and we’re very excited,” he said on Channel 9’s Australian Open coverage.
“Excited and I guess everyone is quietly mocking Eddie’s arrival.
‘Dude, he’s a world-class coach, so there’s a little bit of excitement there, but he’s also a big unknown to us players. It’s been a ride.
He does not. 9 was close to Rennie and admitted it was hard to see him leave after a three-year tenure that was some of the toughest times the Wallabies have faced in recent memory.
Nic White (right), pictured with former manager Dave Rennie after a heartbreaking loss to New Zealand late last year, said he was “sad” to see him face the axe.
“Obviously some emotions there (with Rennie leaving),” White said.
“We had just done camp with Dave and set the stage around the World Cup and we had been with Dave for three years.
“At first, you’re sad that he can’t take us to the World Cup,” White said, with the tournament taking place in France from September 8 to October 28.
Fellow Wallaby Ned Hanigan said his jaw dropped when he found out Rennie had been sacked, and the team found out at the same time as the public, when Rugby Australia released its shocking press release.
Nic White shakes hands with Eddie Jones before Australia played England in July last year
The Waratahs striker, who has capped 28 times for Australia, said it has been a busy time and it will be an exciting year as the team looks to turn their fortunes around and somehow compete for the World Cup.
“It’s been a little bit hectic. We came back on Monday of the week and, yeah, we had some medicals and we got pulled over (to hear about Rennie’s firing),” Hanigan said.
The news was delivered pretty quickly. Yes. Rens (Rennie) is out, Eddie is in. (My) jaw hit the ground, it was all a bit of a shock. But it’s an exciting year, nonetheless.’
White and Hanigan are both players who have not cemented places in the starting XV for the World Cup.
Ned Hanigan, pictured at a Wallabies practice session Jan. 12, said the team is excited for an exciting year.
Rennie experimented with countless combinations of halves, including white, and never settled on one; while Hanigan is one of several forwards who will fight for a flanker or lock position.
The Kiwi also had a pretty tough approach, but Jones, who was in charge when Australia suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the 2003 World Cup final against England, is another pot of fish.
When Wallabies great Morgan Turinui, who was trained by Jones, commented on what he would bring to the table, he was quite clear: ‘sink or swim’.
Eddie Jones, pictured with Wallaby legend Morgan Turinui in the foreground, previously coached Australia from 2001 to 2005
‘There is anxiety in the work environment. You are never relaxed and resting on your laurels. There is always a push or the next challenge, the next session, the next rep in the gym to get better. That’s the vibe,” said the player-turned-commentator on Stan Sports.
‘So it’s sink or swim. If you can’t cope with the environment, he will find other players to do it.
‘His memory is not brilliant, so he writes everything down. He has notes to consult. His diligence is unparalleled. Immediately, as a player, you know that your coach is working harder than anyone.
“He’s holding the staff accountable, so you know it’s an environment where if you can work through the oven that is the environment, it can make you the best player you can be,” said Turinui, who was a big fan of the game. Jones’ appointment. for Rugby Australia.
The Wallabies players face an uphill task to turn their fortunes around ahead of the World Cup later this year.
One of Turinui’s former teammates, diehard hooker Al Baxter, said Jones “basically beats other coaches” and was brilliant at motivating players.
“He (Jones) is great at figuring out what drives certain players,” Baxter said. Sports Code.
“He was a big fan of figuring out who was the best in the world, from a team standpoint and from a positional standpoint, and then figuring out, or reverse engineering, what made them so good and required our players to work “. similar strategies.’
That being said, Jones has been sacked from his posts as Australia and England head coach now, and there are reasons for that.
Numerous former players, coaches and other officials under his command have spoken about how intense the atmosphere was with him in charge, with multiple assistants finding his lashing too much.
The second most capped Wallaby, Stephen Moore, recently wrote that he was not a fan of Rugby Australia’s choice, which he said reflected a clear lack of ability to develop our own coaches and players with strong leadership qualities.
Wallabies legend Stephen Moore believes the hiring of Jones was “in a panic”, criticizing Rugby Australia for not doing a better job of coach development.
Moore said that before Jones was hired, no one had shown interest in the Wallabies’ work.
“(Signing Jones) is almost a panic decision because Eddie was sacked by England and they had to move quickly,” he wrote in Sports Code.
We haven’t developed our own trainers like we should and now it’s affecting us. Every time the work of the Wallabies comes up, we scratch our heads over who could fill that role.
It has been a highly controversial appointment.
But boy, can Jones, a quirky, hilarious and uncompromising character, be a coach?
Eddie Jones at his quirky and hilarious best in an England training session
He will go down in history, for now at least, as England’s most successful manager (73 per cent winning record), despite a couple of bad years that ultimately led to his dismissal.
It will take every ounce of that earlier success to turn the tide for the Wallabies, after losses to Ireland, the minnows of Italy and France marred a disappointing Spring Tour in November.
He will have just five Tests before the World Cup to discover his best XV, instill faith in his methods and make the Wallabies hum the same note.
Jones has just eight months until the World Cup, with five games left to find out what his best XV will be.
Jones will have just five Test matches to prove the Wallabies are capable of competing in the Rugby World Cup.
The Wallabies face South Africa on July 8 and Argentina on July 15 in a shortened three-game rugby championship, before matches against arch-rivals the All Blacks on July 29 and August 5.
Back-to-back matches against New Zealand follow on July 29 and August 5.
Fortunately, a game against Georgia presents an ideal way into a World Cup, for which Australia are the fourth seed ($8 at TAB.com.au).