Eddie Jones claims the Wallabies are like an ‘old car’ that continues to break down after their dramatic loss to Argentina… but the Aussie coach is confident his side can return to form ahead of the World Cup ahead of two Tests against the All Blacks
Eddie Jones compared the Wallabies to an old car that is breaking down after Australia lost a thrilling Rugby Championship match 34-31 against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday night.
It was Jones’ second straight defeat since taking charge of the Wallabies for a second time in January after they were beaten 43-12 by South Africa to open the Rugby Championship in Pretoria last week.
While the performance at Allianz Stadium was a far improvement from the disappointing display the Wallabies put up seven days ago, Jones admitted he still has plenty of work to do.
‘You fix the handbrake and then the next day the windscreen wiper breaks and we’re a bit like that at the moment,’ said the former England coach.
“Last week we didn’t have good set pieces, this week we had good set pieces.
Eddie Jones compared the Wallabies to an old car that keeps breaking down
The Wallabies lost 34-31 in a thrilling match against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday.
‘Last week we didn’t attack this week we attacked but our decision making with the ball was poor.’
Jones, however, was confident the Wallabies would improve ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup, which begins in France on September 8.
“So it’s a process that we’ve had to go through, it’s as hard as it is painful, and we’re a long way from the team we want to be tomorrow, but you know we’ll keep working on it and we’ll get it right. ‘
The Wallabies sealed a dramatic win of their own five minutes from time when Mark Nawakanitawas raced 95 meters to score an intercept try, but Juan Martin Gonzalez conceded with 50 seconds to play as he crossed for the Pumas.
‘We’re all really disappointed fellows. We did a lot of it, although we didn’t put enough pressure on the opposition,’ Jones said.
‘Every time we got into a position to press we either gave the ball back or didn’t defend hard enough.
‘So we have to fix a few things that we can fix with a lot of hard work.
‘Sometimes what you’re doing doesn’t show in the performance and it takes a moment in another game or game.
Jones insists the Wallabies can turn their fortunes around ahead of 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 Bledisloe Cup Test in Dunedin.
If they fail to beat the All Blacks in either Test, the Wallabies will arrive in France on a four-match losing streak.
Australia open their World Cup against Georgia at the Stade de France on September 9, before taking on Fiji in Saint-Etienne on September 17 and Wales in Lyon on September 24.
The Wallabies’ final pool stage game is against Portugal in Saint-Etienne on 1 October.