VIDEO - 'Like a mate having a beer': Eddie on Hansen's role in Wallabies camp
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: When days are dark, friends are few. However, that is not the case for Australia’s head coach Eddie Jones.
Jones caused a major stir with his latest move ahead of the 2023 World Cup next month.
Following a horrendous period for the Australian team – which included finishing at the bottom of the Rugby Championship table – Jones has opted to bring in some extra expertise in the shape of former All Black coach Steve Hansen.
The World Cup-winning coach has joined the Wallabies as an unpaid short-term advisor ahead of Sunday’s warm-up match against France in Paris.
Hansen has spent several days with the Australians.
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Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Jones has shed light on Hansen’s presence inside the camp.
“I’ve coached against Steve since 1998 so we’ve got a long relationship, enjoy each other’s company and I always had the thought we wanted this week to be a reset week for us,” Jones told reporters.
“We’ve been through the Rugby Championship, done our Australian responsibilities and now it’s a rest, so we’ve brought in Steve to have a look at what we’re doing.
“It’s purely like a mate having a beer and asking what do you think? Where can we improve?
“We’ve also got Doug Lemov [a US coach and educator] who we’ve used previously to help the coaches improve their coaching.
“It’s a really important professional development time for us to just get a little bit better before we go into the World Cup.”
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The coach said Hansen is looking at two key areas the Wallabies need to improve.
“There are two main areas, there’s the training quality, which is our way of improving.
“And the leadership of the team. So Steve is having a look at both of those areas,” the former England coach said.
Jones revealed that the Wallabies players really welcomed Hansen, despite him being the cause of most of their downfall as All Blacks coach.
“They like good people coming into camp, they want to get better and they can see the value of Steve,” said Jones.
“If you just look at his Test record, I think he’s coached 200 Tests; for the All Blacks he won I think 87 percent.
“So they like good people coming into camp and he’s a good person, so the reaction has been really positive.”
