NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby / Rugby World Cup

Wales v Australia result: Rugby World Cup 2023, how the world reacted

NZ Herald
24 Sep, 2023 09:25 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Australia's Fraser McReight, left, and Australia's Rob Valetini embrace after the Rugby World Cup Pool C match between Wales and Australia. Photo / AP

Australia's Fraser McReight, left, and Australia's Rob Valetini embrace after the Rugby World Cup Pool C match between Wales and Australia. Photo / AP

The Wallabies were all but knocked out of the Rugby World Cup this morning following a 40-6 defeat to Wales - which looks set to be the first time they’ll fail to make the quarter-final stage at the tournament.

Eddie Jones’ side were completely outclassed to be handed their biggest loss at a World Cup. Their second defeat of the tournament, following a shock loss to Fiji, leaves them on one win from three games. They’d need Fiji to lose to Georgia and Portugal to have any chance of making the next round, which seems unlikely.

Just eight years ago they were World Cup finalists, and last November lost by one point to France in Paris and by three to Ireland in Dublin. They will host the next tournament in 2027 but they have struggled since Jones took over from Dave Rennie this year winning just one game.

Here’s how the world media reacted to today’s loss:

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Woeful Wallabies seal their fate with shocking defeat

Sydney Morning Herald: “The Eddie Jones experiment can officially be declared a disaster after the Wallabies all but crashed out of the World Cup in record-breaking fashion,” wrote Tom Decent.

Wallabies torn to shreds

News.com.au: “Doomsday has arrived for Australian rugby with the Wallabies suffering one of their biggest ever humiliations, crashing out of the World Cup”.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

World Cup dream all but over after woeful Wallabies’ humiliating 48-year low

Fox Sports: “Australia’s World Cup campaign is all but over after the Wallabies suffered a humiliating 40-6 defeat to Wales. The Wallabies created opportunities in the first half but were utterly outclassed throughout the second stanza. They were dominated in the scrum and lineout after halftime, with discipline at the breakdown once again a cause for concern.”

Wales hammer Australia to seal quarter-final spot

BBC: “Wales became the first team to reach the 2023 World Cup quarter-finals as they celebrated a record win over Australia in Lyon.”

Sonny Bill Williams weighs in

The former All Black and World Cup commentator had a crack at Eddie Jones on Stan Sport.

“That second half team, they looked like a team that just lost belief. They didn’t believe in themselves and that starts with the head in the sheds. They came out here and didn’t perform at all. It was really really disappointing. I feel for these boys. I feel for the fans. I want to keep it real. They were up against it from the start...questions need to be asked from selections to the mind games that Eddie’s been playing with these young men,” the two-time World Cup winner said.

Rugby World Cup 2023 results so far

”There’s a guy back home in the studio who should be here right now,” he said eluding to Michael Hooper.

“Proof’s in the pudding. 40-6 was really embarrassing. I feel for these kids, they’re going to carry this on for the rest of their careers. They’ll feel this until they come back here again and rectify it. If I’m a player I’m not following a guy that’s sitting meeting with another national team, potentially looking for another job days before you’re hoping on a plane to come to this World Cup.”

Hooper defends Jones

Former skipper Michael Hooper, who missed out on selection for the tournament, defended the man who didn’t pick him.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“I think a lot is going to come on Eddie. Right. And maybe there’s been fairness to that. But I’ve been in the environment, I’ve been in the camp. No one’s up in more hours in the day than Eddie, that guy’s going to bed at 11 at night thinking about how to make all Wallabies team better,” Hooper said on Stan Sport.

“And he’s waking up at three in the morning answering messages on how to make the Wallabies team better. So there’s no lack of desire for that for that guy to make this team the best it can possibly be. Now it hasn’t worked out that way. So yes, there’s going to be people that come under fire, players first, you know, coaches, coaches staff, the great wider rugby community in Australia.

“So let’s just pull the brakes a bit off. Eddie You know, I hate seeing people booed regardless of who they are, opposition, whatever, because you know, the people are putting themselves out there. That’s what we’re talking about here. Like players, coaches actually putting their nuts on the line to go out there and try and be the best person they could be.”

“So Eddie’s done that. The players have done that. So let’s not like have a crack at the bloke, We’ve got to look at this thing as a helicopter view and you know, I hope that’s the approach taken,” Hooper added.

Social media reaction

Rock bottom for @wallabies I have been predicting this for years after seeing the lack of rugby IQ and skills in grassroots in Australia. Ive been warning “the powers that” be but nobody listens

— David Campese (@Davidcampese11) September 24, 2023

Utter, utter humiliation for the Wallabies.

— Jason Pine (@pineynz) September 24, 2023

This is carnage.

— Tom Decent (@tomdecent) September 24, 2023

Still just over 20 minutes to go, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse Wallabies side.

— Brian Ashby (@BrianAshby2) September 24, 2023

Shattered for @wallabies but congrats to my valley friends.. Wales too good on the night.. Hard to believe we will miss out on the final stages 😢

Press conference could be anything with Eddie 👀

Tbh, if anyone was to knock us out, I’m glad it’s the Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️

— Matt Giteau 🇦🇺 (@giteau_rugby) September 24, 2023

This is Australian Rugby’s darkest day. Every decision, every misstep, every blunder that got us here should be an indictment on those involved. The Eddie Jones gamble has been a disaster. #WALvAUS

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) September 24, 2023

It didn’t have to be like this !

— Bernard Foley 🇦🇺 (@bernardfoley) September 24, 2023

Get full coverage of the Rugby World Cup.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rugby World Cup

Premium
Black Ferns

Woodman-Wickliffe on babies, books, broadcasting and King’s Birthday honour

02 Jun 03:00 AM
Rugby World Cup

‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

08 Apr 06:15 PM
Rugby World Cup

Gatland waived six-figure settlement to leave Wales

12 Feb 06:09 PM

How one volunteer makes people feel seen

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rugby World Cup

Premium
Woodman-Wickliffe on babies, books, broadcasting and King’s Birthday honour

Woodman-Wickliffe on babies, books, broadcasting and King’s Birthday honour

02 Jun 03:00 AM

She aims to start a family after the Rugby World Cup in England.

‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

08 Apr 06:15 PM
Gatland waived six-figure settlement to leave Wales

Gatland waived six-figure settlement to leave Wales

12 Feb 06:09 PM
‘Nanny state’: Council proposes fizzy drink ban at sports stadium

‘Nanny state’: Council proposes fizzy drink ban at sports stadium

01 Feb 04:00 PM
Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka
sponsored

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP