Head coach Jones (AUS) - 'The intellect in the game has grown and we've trailed off'

Comments from Australia head coach Eddie Jones and captain Will Skelton as they assess their Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign and look to the future at a media briefing on Friday.

Eddie Jones, head coach 

On what he would have changed about his approach to this campaign: 

"There's a couple of schedule issues but nothing apart from that. I don't sit there thinking 'shit, I wish I would have done that'. I am not comfortable with the results, but I am comfortable with the way we've gone about this campaign, if that makes sense.

"We came in with the understanding it's a nine-month job, see what we could do and then everyone will sit down and have a look at what we've done, where we want to go and make a decision then what we need going forward. 

"There will be some sort of Rugby Australia review in November, I believe, so at the end of that will be the opportunity to start moving forward."

On wanting to stay on as head coach and believing he is the right person for the job:

"I've signed a contract and I will do the (Rugby Australia) review and then it's up to others to decide. I just stand by the fact that I take full responsibility, I feel like I've given the team the opportunity to get better and, as I've repeatedly said, the results don't show that but I think we are." 

On having thoughts on what needs to be done with regulations surrounding player availability:  

"I do have thoughts but it's probably not appropriate at this stage. Again, I don't want to be making any excuses for us. I accept the results, I accept the responsibility for it. There are things that need to be done and they will be done in due course."

On firmly believing he is assembling the core of a really good future Wallabies side: 

"When I came in, I assessed the playing pool and said we needed to make a change and it was high risk. You know, we catch one kick against Fiji and maybe we're sitting here already qualified for the quarter-finals. They're the small things that happen that sometimes can affect you, your obvious progress. 

"But this team is going to be a good team. We need one or two quality players to add to it. We're not the finished product yet but if you look at the players Will [Skelton, captain] mentioned (see below - Hooper, Gordon, Donaldson) then you add in (Angus) Bell, 23, loose-head prop, (Taniela) Tupou, Fraser McReight, (Rob) Valenti is 25, (Tate) McDermott is 25. Donaldson, Mark (Nawaqanitawase), (Max) Jorgensen. Now you are talking about eight or 10 players that have the potential to be really good test players. 

"Then you add in a few experienced players like Will (Skelton), Richie Arnold, a couple of hard guys like (Samu) Kerevi and you get those guys back to their best. With that group of people, that's a team that can do really well."

On centralising high performance in Australia across the five rugby states: 

"That's one of the key issues. We need to maximise the development of the players. At the end of the day, that's the key to success and alignment of your resources for a small country.

"Australia, if you look at the history of rugby, when we were amateur we were probably ahead of the game because we had the influence of rugby league, we had the influence of AFL (Australian rules). Players were more professional than the rest of the world. Now Europe - Will (Skelton) can testify to this - has taken off. There's new levels of professionalism. The intellect involved in the game has grown considerably and we've trailed off a little bit in that area.

"We need to pick it up and there's no reason why we can't." 

On the need for a high performance director: 

"There's a need for someone to be looking after tomorrow. That's really important. You know, the national coach looks after today and there's a need for someone to be strategic about planning what's needed for Australian rugby to be sustainably successful. And that's where you need a high-performance director. What role he has with the national team is something that needs to be discussed. But someone absolutely responsible for what's happening tomorrow is vital." 

On not being attracted by the idea of being a high-performance director or similar for Australia: 

"No. I'm not an administrator. I love the game, I don't love politics. I am not a politician. I never have been, never will be." 

On the need to target both attracting young players and recruiting talent from other sports codes in Australia: 

"I think you always need to do both. Like you need to shop at David Jones (Australian store) and Woolworths. You need to do both. If you always shop at David Jones you run out of money pretty quickly. 

"You've got to be producing at the bottom end and then cherry-picking at the top end. There might be one or two rugby league players that have the hunger to want to play rugby that could make a hell of a difference. Historically, we've seen that happen. There's no reason why in the future that couldn't happen." 

On not thinking about coaching another national side should Rugby Australia dispense with his services: 

"I am not even worried about that, at this stage." 

On the game and World Rugby needing to address the balance in the game between power and pace: 

"The game has always gone between contest and continuity. The balance we want is to be able to play both games. If the game goes too far to the contest which is a brutality game then it's just one sort of game. 

"That's the beauty of rugby. You can go to a rugby game anywhere in the world and you don't know how it's going to be played, whether it's going to be won through the contest or won through the continuity. And we want to keep that balance in the game. 

"As I repeat, the more stoppages we have in the game the more we favour the brutality game.

"We are going down that track and I think World Rugby should have a look at it. We need to get the balance right. 

"I love the balance in the game where you can play through guys like Will (Skelton) or Taniela (Tupou) and then we can spread the ball, shift the ball quickly. I've always liked to play both sorts of games. When you can't play one of them then you've got to rely on the other one - that's when it gets difficult."

On young fly-half Carter Gordon: 

"I think it was a great experience for him. He's a young 10, he's played a handful of Super Rugby games. He will be better for it. It was about getting some experience to be a good test player. He had his ups and downs as young players do but he's got a great opportunity now to go forward. 

"It hasn't gone as well as anyone hoped. He's disappointed, but he's learned a lot. He's learned a lot about himself particularly. When you are a young player coming through, particularly when you have got that talented tag on you, there's a realisation when you get to this level it's about your hard work, it's about the way you think. Not that he doesn't have those qualities but he's going to have to develop those qualities more to be successful and I've got no doubt he's got that firmly entrenched in his mind." 

On believing captain Will Skelton is vital for a successful Wallabies future:

"I think Will's got his best rugby ahead of him. No doubt about it. I think he's just starting. I am so impressed by his humility, his hard work and the manner in which he leads a team. There's no doubt there was a hole left when we lost Will, from a leadership and a playing point of view."

Will Skelton, captain

On where he thinks things went wrong in this campaign: 

"It's hard to put in a sentence. We trained hard - every team trains hard for a World Cup - but we worked really hard. We didn't get the results that we wanted but as we've said, sometimes that scoreline is the last bit of the progress.

"Boys are changing their habits on and off the field. That's a credit to Eddie and the staff and how hard they've been pushing us every day. You can't really question the work effort we are putting in. We are just not really getting the results. But it will come."

On not retiring from the international game: 

"I'm not retiring."

On the differences in quality he sees between young Australian and young French players: 

"The only thing different is that they're exposed to, I guess, probably a higher level of rugby in terms of the Top 14.

"But we've got some great players - Tommy Hooper, Carter Gordon, Ben Donaldson - they are the few that have shone in the last (months) playing in a Wallaby jersey."

On not ruling out a return to Australia to play in Super Rugby: 

"My options are always open. At the moment I am contracted for another couple of years in La Rochelle (his club in France's Top 14) but I will leave that open."