Returning Wallabies coach Eddie Jones is ready to shake things up for Australian rugby.
The national side had periods of brilliance during the 2022 season but finished with a mediocre tally of just five wins in 13 Test matches, a record culminating in the demise of former head Dave Rennie.
However, under new leadership and ahead of one of the biggest years of rugby in history, Jones has spoken on the clean slate that will be provided to all prospects in 2023.
“I think selection is always … there’s a bit of history (involved),” Jones told SEN Breakfast.
“So, players who’ve got a history of success definitely have a head start.
“But it also, with a new coach coming in, it also opens up opportunities for players who thought maybe they had missed out and haven’t been working as hard as they can to do a little bit more hard work and find a way to be a little bit better.”
Jones, who is known for his hard-edged coaching style, favours current form and work ethic over experienced performers and won’t settle for less than 100 per cent effort from his players.
With the France World Cup just over seven months away and a Rugby Championship looming, Jones hopes some strong performances and community engagement can reignite interest from the Australian public.
“We’ve definitely dropped off (in popularity),” he added.
“I came out with England last year and we had our first Test in Perth and I spent a little bit of time with (former Australian cricket coach) Justin Langer and one of the things he said (was), ‘You never hear about the Wallabies anymore.’
“You hear about teams when they win, you hear about teams when they do good things in the community so we’ve got to do a lot of winning and more in the community.
“One of the things (is) when we’ve got the Melbourne Test, we’ll definitely come down and spend the week in Melbourne so we connect to the people down there.”
The Wallabies will host the Los Pumas at CommBank Stadium in July before taking on the All Blacks in Bledisloe I at the MCG. They will also head overseas to face the Springboks and NZ for their remaining Rugby Championship matches.
Sign up for the SENZ Super Rugby Tipping competition here. or below 👇
