'Show some respect': Eddie lashes out at media
REACTION: Eddie Jones’ second stint as Wallabies head coach has kicked off in disastrous fashion.
The Wallabies were outclassed in every facet at Loftus Versfeld and were lucky to only fall to a 12-43 defeat, which was their heaviest against the Springboks since 2008.
To make things more worrying for Jones, the Springboks were without a number of their stars as Jacques Nienaber opted to send a dozen players ahead to New Zealand to start preparation for next weekend’s clash with the All Blacks.
In the build-up to the match, Nienaber’s decision to field an understrength Bok side raised a few questions with Jones stating he ‘always want to face South Africa’s best team‘.
However, his comments came back to haunt him as the Wallabies were comprehensively beaten at a sold-out Loftus Versfeld.
Fronting the media after the match, Jones was quizzed about his pre-match comments by a South African journalist – who twisted the Australian’s words and got him all hot under the collar.
But the question did not go down well with the veteran coach.
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* Video credit: @Lunga_Kupiso
“Eddie, you expressed your disappointment in the week that you weren’t playing the first-choice Springboks side. Is that a bit of relief now?” the reporter asked, prompting a lashing from the coach.
“South Africans are good at winning. You don’t have to be a smart a**e mate,” Jones said.
“We were well and truly beaten by a Springboks side that old mate is calling the B-team, right?
“I never knew there was a Springboks side that was called the B-team.
“But now we have a new term.”
Jones confronted the journalist after the press conference, demanding more respect.
“You don’t have to be a smart a**e mate,” Jones said again.
“You should have more respect mate.
“I never said that mate.
“I said we always want to play the best.
“Show some respect.”
#ICYMI: Bok coaches sit with good headache 👇#RugbyChampionship #SouthAfrica #Springboks https://t.co/Qo7DlieXoj
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) July 9, 2023
‘Outplayed everywhere’
The Wallabies led early with star wing Marika Koroibete scoring but from that point were out-muscled by the physical Springboks.
Making more than double the amount of tackles, they were always on the back foot with the forwards unable to lay any kind of platform for flyhalf Quade Cooper to orchestrate the attack.
They resorted to repeatedly kicking away possession which kept them under the pump in defence and a 17-5 half-time scoreline blew out with the Wallabies also giving up two penalty tries.
“We were outplayed everywhere,” Jones said.
“The only positive was the first 20 minutes, where we tried to play with a bit of pace, we tried to shift turnover ball and we looked dangerous but we weren’t able to sustain that effort.
“We got beaten at the set-piece, got beaten at the gain-line, got beaten in the air.
“When you do not win any of those contests, it is going to be a long day at the office. ”
The Australians only have a few days to turn around the loss as they host Argentina on Saturday in Sydney.
