Eddie Jones claims the Wallabies are like an ‘old car’ that keeps breaking down after a dramatic loss to Argentina… but the Australian coach is confident his team can get back in shape before the World Cup ahead of two Tests against the all blacks.
Eddie Jones compared the Wallabies to an old car that keeps breaking down after Australia lost a thrilling Rugby Championship match 34-31 against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday night.
The loss is Jones’ second straight defeat since taking charge of the Wallabies for the second time in January, following a 43-12 thrashing at the hands of South Africa. to open the Rugby Championship in Pretoria last week.
While the performance at Allianz Stadium was much improved since the Wallabies’ dismal display seven days ago, Jones admitted his team still had a lot of work to do.
“You fix the handbrake and then the next day the wipers break and we’re a bit like that at the moment,” the former England manager said.
‘Last week our set set was not good this week our set set was good.
Eddie Jones compared the Wallabies to an old car that keeps breaking down
The Wallabies lost a thrilling game 34-31 against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday
“Last week we didn’t attack, this week we did attack, but our decision-making around the ball was bad.”
Jones, however, was confident the Wallabies would improve ahead of the next Rugby World Cup, which begins in France on September 8.
“So this is a little process we have to go through, as painful as it is difficult, and the team we are today is a long way from the team we want to be tomorrow, but you know we’ll keep working on it and we’ll do it right.
The Wallabies appeared to have secured a dramatic victory of their own when Mark Nawaqanitawase ran 95 meters to score an interception attempt with five minutes remaining, but conceded with 50 seconds left when Juan Martín González crossed for the Pumas.
‘We are all really disappointed my friend. We invested a lot in that, even though we couldn’t put enough pressure on the opposition,” Jones said.
“Every time we got in position to press, we either returned the ball or didn’t defend enough.”
“So there are a couple of things we need to fix that we can fix with a lot of hard work.
‘Sometimes what you’re doing isn’t reflected in performance and it takes another game or in-game moment.
Jones insisted that the Wallabies can turn their luck around before the World Cup.
The Wallabies will be in action on July 29 when they host the All Blacks at the MCG, before traveling to New Zealand a week later for the second round of the Bledisloe Cup in Dunedin.
If they fail to beat the All Blacks in any of the Tests, the Wallabies will arrive in France after a four-match losing streak.
Australia open their World Cup against Georgia on September 9 at the Stade de France, before facing Fiji in Saint-Etienne on September 17 and Wales in Lyon on September 24.
The Wallabies’ final group game is against Portugal on October 1 in Saint-Etienne.
