Soundbites – Australians whinge about Jones

There has been strong reaction from the Wallaby camp to the news that former Australian coach Eddie Jones will be assisting coach Jake White with the Springbok World Cup campaign.

John “Knuckles” Connolly, Wallaby Head Coach:

“Eddie’s working in South Africa. I have no problems, no. It’s up to Eddie. I don’t think it will be that much of an issue. You’ve coached these guys long enough so you would definitely have a fair insight into them personality-wise and how they play the game – what they’re good at and what they’re bad at. You would have that knowledge. I think a few of the players are a bit upset about it but, from our point of view, we’re just concentrating on ourselves. But no, I wouldn’t be doing the same.”

Stirling “Snorky” Mortlock, Wallaby Captain:

“Eddie’s had a huge impact on my career. He coached me for a number of years at the Brumbies at Super 12 and Super 14 level and likewise at Australian level, so I’ve got little bit mixed emotions seeing him coaching the Boks. I read some comments from Michael Foley this morning and he hit it pretty much on the head. If everyone had known that Eddie was going to be in a capacity of coaching the Springboks, direct opposition who we may well play in a big match at this World Cup, I don’t think he would have been privy to a lot of the information that he was privy to being the head coach of Queensland this year. But, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think there’s that much inside information that would be very useful. It’s a little bit disappointing, but I think it also reflects the nature of professional rugby nowadays. Players go overseas and play now. Likewise coaches need to coach. So if they go overseas to do so, that’s just a reflection of the environment that we are in at the moment.”

Michael Foley, Wallaby Forwards Coach:

“There were certain things that Eddie was privy to that he may not have been privy to if there was an understanding he may actually end up coaching a major international competitor.”

Alec Evans, Assistant Wallaby Forwards Coach:

“The question, I suppose, is whether Eddie Jones has the ability to transfer any of that knowledge to the Boks?”

John “Whingemaster2000” O’Neill, ARU Bossman.

“It’s not something you would expect of a former Australian coach. He would argue, ‘I’m a professional coach’. I would just put a caveat in there that you’ve got to be a bit more discerning. In a sense it tells you the game has changed and coaches will take on jobs driven by other motives other than loyalty and patriotism. This is a quite definitive eyes-wide-open move by Eddie to go and advise the Springboks, amongst other things, on how to beat the Wallabies. I’m not sure whether Eddie’s going to be able to offer any particularly useful insights and the combination of Jake White and Eddie Jones is certainly interesting – Sideshow Bob (White) and the Beaver (Jones). I found it a bit amusing to tell the truth.”