Rugby World Cup 2023: Why Eddie Jones is so confident in Wallabies’ chances

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones addressed the media before departing Sydney. Photo / Getty

As the Wallabies departed Sydney to embark on their Rugby World Cup campaign, between firing shots at journalists, Eddie Jones exuded confidence in his side.

Jones has been in the spotlight since taking over as Wallabies head coach from Dave Rennie earlier this year, and has not shied away from making his mark on the side in a bid to turn things around for the test team.

After going without a win in the Rugby Championship and losing the second Bledisloe Cup test, the Wallabies are without a victory since Jones took over; their most recent win came against Wales in November last year.

There have been promising signs in that stretch, however, with moments to suggest the Wallabies were a team on the improve in both tests against the All Blacks.

But having tinkered with his squad – and naming a surprisingly inexperienced 33-man group for the World Cup – Jones felt he had the team in the best possible position to challenge in France.

“I think we’ve got the right squad now, I think we’ve got the right balance of energy, enthusiasm, we’ve got youth on our side and we’re ready to go. I’m much more confident,” Jones told media in Sydney.

“None of you guys think we can do any good, so that’s alright. The challenge is for us as a group to show you that we can and show ourselves that we can. It’s a great image for Australian rugby – a young team ready to take on the world.

“Yesterday, our training was the best I’ve seen by a mile and that’s on the back of four hard days in Darwin, overnight in Arnhem Land sleeping on sand, and the boys are ready to go. We’re ready to show the world what we can do.”

Of Jones’ 33-man squad for the tournament, only eight have previous World Cup experience. There are three uncapped players in the squad, 16 have played fewer than 10 tests, while veterans Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper were major omissions.

“That’s all been done and dusted,” Jones said. “We’ve moved on. If the players are unhappy with the selection process, so be it. We’re moving on with a new young squad that’s going to take Australian rugby forward.

“You’ve got to understand, what we’ve had here over the last eight years hasn’t been good enough. It hasn’t been good enough, and we want the opportunity for these young players to go forward.”

The Wallabies will have one more test before their World Cup campaign begins; a clash against France next weekend is their final chance to build combinations.

It’s a test that Jones referred to as “practice”, and noted the side were putting all of their attention on getting out of their pool, which is one of the more competitive of the four groups as they’ll meet Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal.

Should they get to the knockout stages, Australia would not meet a team currently ranked among the world’s top five until the semifinals.

“It’s all about timing our run. We don’t need to be at our best before a crux game in the World Cup and the first crux game’s against Georgia.

“So, we need to be at a level where we can beat Georgia, then we go on to the next game which is against Fiji, then we go on to Wales and then we go to Portugal, and then you’re in the quarter-finals. Once you’re in the quarter-finals then you’ve got to be the best team on the day.

“It’s all about the timing, and it’s about the level of tactical influence you put into your team and you build that up as you go along.”