'I never have any regrets': Eddie explains his rant in 'worst press conference'
SPOTLIGHT: Wallaby head coach Eddie Jones addressed his media blow-up in Sydney before his squad boarded the plane to Paris earlier this month.
During that farewell, Jones slammed reporters for their negativity and described it as the “worst press conference” he’d ever had.
The Wallabies are currently winless this year from five games under Jones, who took over from Dave Rennie in January.
Jones said it was a “bit of fun” when asked about that media conference but it also had a serious side to it, in protecting his young squad.
“We’ve got to look after our team, we’ve got a young group of players and we want them to feel like there’s people behind them,” he said.
“I never have any regrets.
“I try to just be as honest as I can, be honest with my feelings and emotions and that’s how I felt at that time.”
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Meanwhile, Jones says the Wallabies need to bridge the gap between their best and worst, adding that at the top of their game they outplayed World Cup favourites France.
The Australians fell to the hosts 17-41 in their tournament warm-up match in Paris and they were left to rue a swag of missed opportunities.
While the defeat was another wake-up call for Jones, the veteran coach said they were toiling hard at training to build consistency in their play.
“Our best moments were better than France, but our worst moments are far worse than France,” Jones told 2GB from France.
“It’s all about consistency, about keep doing the simple things well and at the moment we don’t have the capacity to do that, but we’re slowly building.
“We’ve just got to be more consistent and that comes from a bit of mental toughness, it comes from the team fighting together in difficult situations and it comes from our capacity to repeat skill under pressure.
“Training is our avenue to improve and I can tell you we’re training at the absolute optimum we can, and we’ll get to the World Cup and we will be in great condition.”
The Wallabies have moved their training base to Saint-Etienne, where they will play pool games against Fiji and Portugal after their World Cup opener against Georgia at Stade de France in Paris on September 9.
They also tackle Wales at nearby Lyon.
Rookie hooker Matt Faessler said the warm-up Test against France before a full house of more than 80,000 in Paris was a new experience.
His opposite Julien Marchand was twice penalised for “baulking” with his line-out throw, unable to hear the call from his French teammates due to the noise from the crowd.
“I’ve never experienced crowds quite like that crowd on the weekend,” 24-year-old Faessler said.
“At the moment I’m just trying to soak it all in and learn as much as I can and enjoy the experience because I feel very privileged to be here.”
The Reds rake said the group had grown close and were hungry for success.
“It’s a hungry, self-driven group who are pretty keen to work hard for each other.
“I’m really excited to see what we can achieve.”
Source: AAP
