Eddie Jones is back as the Wallabies coach, a week after being sacked by England rugby, despite a contract that took him past the world cup in France starting in September. Under Jones, England did very well from 2015 to 2021, having a 73% win record. A dismal 2022 season blew that number away. The English team failed to perform in 2022, so the coach must go.
Meanwhile, back in Rugby Australia headquarters, coach bingo was starting again. Incumbent Dave Rennie failed to call ‘Bingo’ last week, being edged out by none other than Jones, who had snuck back in through the side door.
Jones previously coached the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, with considerable success on the field. However, it seems he lost the game in the boardroom, which is the one that really matters to the nincompoops who run the game, so he had to go. Then came a conga line: John Connolly, Robbie Deans, Ewen McKenzie, Michael Cheika, and finally, Dave Rennie. If we had the broken contract payouts of that lot, we could build a stadium!
By vivid contrast, we have the current Australian Open draw. It is full of Canadians. Who would have guessed 20 years ago, as Jones was being sacked for the first time, that snowbound Canada, a country with so few tennis courts most would not have recognised them as such, would emerge as a tennis powerhouse. In just 20 years they would have gone from a tennis-less country to one others are looking towards for inspiration.
Canada has several real chances at a win in Melbourne, the ranks include a winner of a grand slam (Bianca Andreescu US Open 2019) several slam runners-up, and more semi and quarter finalists than so called tennis powerhouses like Australia have in the draw, and are the current holders of the Davis Cup.
It is instructive to look at the differences.
The fact that they are entirely different sports is irrelevant. What is absolutely relevant is that Tennis Canada developed a strategy that they stuck to, adjusting tactically as necessary. The absolute objective was, and is, to be a top performing nation in the tennis competitions that matter, the Slams, Masters, Davis and Federation (now Billie Jean King) Cups.
Coaching has been a key part of the Canadian strategy, as has been the early identification of talent, and the focussing of very limited resources on nurturing that talent, commitment, and patience, all heading towards that shared and unambiguous objective.
Meanwhile, Australian rugby bounces from coach to coach, without any evident strategy. Talent identification is left to the few schools that still play rugby, there is little pathway from park rugby to the elite level, star players are not encouraged to play domestically as their value is not recognised in the pay packets, and we even dismiss Israel Folau, the greatest crowd puller since David Campese because he has an invisible friend who makes him say stupid things.
Failure of the Wallabies to perform consistently on the field is the outcome, not the cause of the current malaise, and will not be fixed by more of the same. We have changed coaches almost as often as my grandson has his diapers changed, and for the same reason. Surely it should have sunk in by now that the performance problems are not just coaching, they hide elsewhere?
It is the total lack of a strategy, thoughtfully implemented over an extended period that is to blame, not the coaches.
Rugby Australia could learn a lot from Tennis Canada.
Header photo courtesy Rugby World magazine. (it looks like Eddie is watching his back).
Australian Rugby had a strategy that was to pull all the money out of grass roots rugby to win the Rugby World Cup to bring all the fans back and encourage young people to play rugby. BONG! We didn’t win the RWC and the fans and the players didn’t come back. Grass roots rugby—including Sydney Suburban Rugby—was left with the task of keeping the game afloat with all the funding being diverted to pay for Raelene Castle and her buddies building a bureaucratic empire at Rugby HQ.
But you have overlooked that they did come up with one strategy to turn it all around. A good re-branding will solve everything, of course so it changed its name from The Australian Rugby Union to Rugby Australia. Nearly as embarrassing as the BOM rebranding, except that no one noticed a thing.
For all of the farce, one thing that will definitely change is that Eddie Jones will stir the media pot which will at least keep the Wallabies on the back page of the newspapers. Jones is a master of misdirecting the press and giving them a grab. We might not do any better than under Rennie but its going to be a lot more fun.
Tim,
I had negelcted that strategy in my considerations, probably because it resided in my grandsons diapers.
As to Eddie, You are right, he may be more fun than Dave Rennie, but that does not excuse the knee-jerk that the chairman tried to pass off today on the radio as a strategy.
Maybe Eddie will bring back Israel, who might bring his invisible friend, whose help would be invaluable.