Have Rugby Australia Made a Massive Mistake? | The Rugby Pod Debate Eddie Jones Appointment 

As an Irish fan I just cannot understand why they let Rennie go. They only lost to Ireland by 3 points away in Dublin and they were missing a big chunk of their 1st team. Although Ireland were missing 5 or 6 of their best players too. They only lost to France by 1 point, who are possibly the strongest team in the world atm. All of these games were away too. Yes they lost those games but by tiny margins and against the favourites of the World Cup. I think it was ludicrous to sack Rennie as they were starting to build something really good and they’d be a lot stronger now for it. 7/8 months out from a World Cup and they sack him for a coach that lost the previous World Cup!? Utter madness really.

As a South African, Eddie Jones DID NOT mention "B team", he was ASKED a question about the composition of the SA team earlier in the week and he simply said he wants to play the best team, which is a fair response. The B team narrative was a media creation and that SA journo was being snarky by putting words in his mouth with that question. So I understand why he flipped off.

As an Aussie I am gutted how the CEO of Australian rugby sacked Dave Rennie only 8 months out of the world cup, such madness, Dave Rennie did extremely well considering his circumstances with injuries and not the strongest squad in last years spring test. The Aussies had narrow loss against and Ireland and France and NZ thanks with the help of a dubious French referee giving a very inconsistent ruling against Foley, these teams were strong. Its a shame as the Aussies were really getting somewhere and now only 7 months of of the world cup they are a shambles...

yes a big mistake. dave rennie had australia going in the right direction..... and had australia positioned as a serious threat in this years world cup. a really good coach making progress, dropped for a big maybe...... the australian rugby union top brass have a history of making big gaffs in the last 5 years. with so much competition in the winter sport market from rugby league and australian rules football, those gaffs are very costly and threaten to move rugby union in australia to the category of a minor sport.

I thought Rennie had those youngsters coming along nicely, just got hit with injuries.

Both NZ coaches were hamstrung by the Aussie Rugby administrators. Deans not being able to pick his supporting coach staff. Rennie having to abide by the Git’s rule. Now Eddie comes in and gets what ever he wants and the team looks worse.

Don't think any coach would be winning with Aus right now... The issue in Aus Rugby union is with the Suites, they've let the sport rot and its almost at no coming back zone

The All Blacks have again found some exceptionally-talented and confident players who are both skilful and powerful. Not only that, they've got talent, confidence, strength and skill in depth. With the exceptions of Ireland and France, it's very doubtful if any current team will be able to match them, no matter who is selecting and coaching them.

They threw a Cat amongst Springboks, Pumas and All Blacks,and that Cat has been absolutely flogged😂😂😂

I'm not going to give up on Eddie Jones yet. He took Japan from a ranking of 16th in 2012 to beating South Africa at the 2015 World Cup. He took England to the 2019 WC final, and he coached the England team that beat the Wallabies in Australia just last year. I don't remember Australians or anyone saying he was past it then.

Big fan of the pod but sometimes I cannot help feeling Andy doesn’t do enough research and fact checking before making BIG statements. As a South African, as previous comments said, Eddie NEVER said anything about being disappointed that we selected a weaker team. He only said “we always want to play the best”. You have a massive platform, please make sure you don’t join in on media misinformation. Congrats on the weight loss!

It seemed a knee jerk reaction at the time they sacked Rennie. They say time will tell and it seems Eddie is a spent force, talks the talk but cannot walk the walk.

Agree with goodey, in autumn tour was missing so many players and should of beat Italy (missed easy kick) lost to France and Ireland away by 1 score

Ronnie was building something, so was Cheika until that horrid pig of a thing got rid of him....Aussie ruby stuffed

I think the exam question should be "Did Engalnd's RFU make a massive mistake?". Dave Rennie should hve stayed on

just a correction about this "B-team" story - it's been widely misunderstood. When Eddie made that statement SA had not named a team yet. He was making a hypothetical statement that he wanted to play the best team. Sure he opened himself up to these kind of attacks - but he never once said that the team that ended up being named was a B-team. The reality is SA have so much depth that there wouldn't be much of a difference between an A and a B team. In fact you could argue that the team that played Aus was better than the team that played NZ.

Aussie Rugby need to send an SOS to Dave Rennie immediately and sack Jones after this weekend's clash with The All Blacks. The All Blacks will put this Wallaby team to the sword and it will probably sink the Wallabies chances of making the play offs, at the World Cup!

Goodies Oz accent is so good I can’t be offended. I think Australia should have let Rennie finish WC as I thought we were building a competitive team on last tour

Some of the selections Eddie Jones has made has been mind boggling. Tate McDermott as the captain?? He wasn’t even top 3 of their halfbacks in super rugby. Dropping Wright, Samu, Wilson and Lolesio? He didn’t pick the players based on their super rugby form and it’s been the wrong call. I’m so disappointed because I saw the promise in aus last year. But then again as a Fiji supporter it’s a good thing for us since we’re in the same pool. This is bad for the rugby scene in NZ too though, without them as a strong rivalry, the interest in the sport is waning.

Haters gonna hate. Australians who love rugby love Eddie Jones

If you want to destroy a team already developed, appoint EJ. However, he can sometimes bring the best out of them before destroying them. He’s a fine-tuner, but not a developer. He admitted himself he should never stay too long in any one job. His success rate will then depend on how good and thorough a job his predecessor did and the pool of players available. In this case, Dave Rennie was on the right track but wasn’t given long enough. Hence the EJ dilemma.

He completely destroyed the All Black's at the last World Cup. No one saw that coming. It looked to me like one of the most complete games of rugby ever played, but that might have been because as an All Black's fan I was devastated!

aussies hold kiwi coachng to a different standard. anyone that understands rugby could see Aussie had improved and could see where they were heading. so many injuries. it was a mistake. and my understanding is some of eddies own coaching staff have no idea what it is he is trying to do. thats a problem.

Eddie is rugby's equivalent of José ... Genius when it was working but cringe-worthy when its not. There's only so much antagonising people can take and being honest, I wouldnt be surprised if the wallabies get a right ol thumping at the RWC. Its a pity because the world needs a good Ozzy team. On a positive note tho .. remember when France were useless and they were! Look at em now! It can be turned around with fresh blood and fresh ideas on the pitch and in the coaching box!

There was bugger all Aussie fans at the MCG. When the Lions next play there. Make sure the ex-pats turn up or there might only be 40k in attendance. Even then, most will be Kiwis!

No one cocks it up as well as the RFU in England. When Clive Woodward came in , we won almost everything (from memory) up to the 03 WC. And we went on to win it. Ireland are supposedly favourites (rightly so) for this WC but they Will absolutely not have it their own way. It is anyone’s WC this year, France, Ireland, NZ and SA (looking to retain the trophy) and Aus maybe with some upsets, England with something to prove after losing the final in 19. It’s a mouth watering potential competition, can’t wait!!

I agree totally. Been saying it all along that rugby Australia really messed up on this one. Eddie is toxic. Sorry to say that but he is.

Eddie said in an interview recently that he wants to take the Aussies back to 00's era. Larkham, Mortlock, Latham, Rogers etc.. unpredictable element to their play. Extravaganza in the set plays. Chalk and Cheese in terms of coaching and playing style. (Admittedly it might have been NRL pundits saying this I can't remember but their point is Still valid)

It’s been 4 games. Don’t get ahead of yourselves. Rennie had a 45% win rate (that is woeful.)

It's hard to think Eddie could possibly turn it around, but his RWC track record speaks for itself. It'll be hilarious if they somehow pull it out of the bag!

Thank you Andy Goode. After a year people see through the bs.

Lets keep it real, RA wanted an Aussie to coach and Eddie was the next free agent & the timing was right for the RWC. They no longer wanted a Kiwi to coach.

EJ is an absolute legend and the game needs em. There is method in his madness, although he is getting short on time. Appointment maybe more about Aus hosting the next RWC than winning this year's championship.

These eddie and borthwick impressions are class

Dave Rennie did not do ''extremely well'' like others here are claiming. A 36% win rate would not fly for any other tier 1 nation. Foster faced calls to be sacked for a win rate that was TWICE as high as Rennies. Rennie had 3 years , Jones has only had 3 games. In saying that, the decision by the ARU was terrible; either sack Rennie and give the new coach the 2022 Autumn tests to experiment with or stick with Rennie through the world cup cycle and pray...they did a half measure and both coaches get screwed. But yeah a reality check is, Rennie trained them too hard and the injury crisis was self inflicted, Jones isn't much different. Jones has been very poor so far though, from a tactical and selection perspective. I'd like to point out that the Wallabies haven't beat a team by more than 20 points for 40 games now. The last game they won by 20+ was against Uruguay in the 2019 world cup 😆

IIRC, Eddie Jones inherited an incredible set of Brumbies players who barely needed coaching. You think Larkham needed Jones’ input on playing 10? Yet Jones trying to convert Andrew Johns to union when he had Larkham is preposterous. Eddie Jones failed to win a home RWC with one of the most talented Wallaby cohorts ever assembled. Yes, it was to a Wilkinson R foot drop goal in extra time but despite England being a virtually unstoppable machine-like juggernaut, i still think the Aussies had the better set of footballers on balance who were perfectly capable of winning that final.

I'd like to see Andy Goode coach a side against an Eddie Jones team and see how he gets on. EJ has got an amazing record, particularly at world cups, yet Goode still can't let it go. If the Ozzies are patient, Jones will make them formidable.

As an England fan saw whwre Rennie was going so its baffling he got sacked

Dave Rennie is coaching where he gets respect. Aussie can have Eddie Jones and their team have benefited from it. I think Aotearoa rugby coach must stay away from coaching Australia rugby teamin the future. Let them have Eddie Jones.

Hope Andy Goode remembers giving it out to Eddie Jones and Borthwick these last few weeks . Maybe this podcast can play back his opinions on these two coaches after the World Cup . Who does he rate as a coach . Andy farrel im sure . Be good maybe to hear his opinion on Farrell whe he was appointed Ireland coach .

Rennies Wallabies were just starting to gel and turn the corner, now it’s all back to square one..

If Australia was going to bring back anyone.... It should have been .... Mark Ella

has Goodey ever been a standup comedian?

Don’t forget Bell lads - outstanding performances.

Yep, they made a mistake. Rennie had even more long term injuries to deal with...

I've been saying this for years about EJ...he hangs off the coat tails of others' successes!

That's a goode Auusie accent, spot on.

Good job Australia Rugby, Dave Rennie is laughing his head off now wat a disaster all round well done rennie

Replacing Dave Rennie with Eddie Jones sacked coach, was a monumental mistake. It is yet another of a series of mistakes by RA, which has resulted in Rugby have lost ground to other footballing codes in Australia.

Australian rugby comes out of the private school section. Public schools play rugby league or AFL in Dantoria. Unlike NZ where every school plays rugby 🏉.

The funny thing is, despite agreeing that it is crazy that they sacked Dave Rennie, Eddie Jones is past his sell by date, etc. I still would not feel confidence facing a Jones Australian side in a World Cup!

If its not Chieka its Eddie........!? When will anyone start questioning the Ausie PLAYERS quality???

Goodey was onto it, Aus looking at not getting out their pool for the first. Eddie keeps moving the goal posts. Judge me on the bledisloe, judge me on the World Cup, it’s the youngest team to play in the World Cup… what’s next?

NZer here - that roo looks like he's shouting *MAAAAAAAAAATE!* Wanna BEER, mate?"

Yeah i thought Rennie was on to something with that bunch of rag tag team of battlers & rookies 💯 especially considering how many injuries they had too. I think its too short notice to bring Eddie in and expect them to be a threat in this years World Cup. It’s like they are back at square one & will have to reset & undo everything they were taught & go through all there processes again 🙄

"coached by a clown". #nailedit Now that I've vented. Here's my 2 cents on Eddie v Rennie. Eddie Jones is a micro manager. His coaching style seems to be "do what I say, the way I say it, when I say to do it and you'll be right". The problem I have with that approach is over time, players surrender their own gut instinct on what to do in a highly volatile and fluid playing environment over to whatever Eddie said they should do. That means as soon as something unexpected happens, or that "Eddie hasn't told them how to deal with it", the players are left looking stupid. Now Eddie sticking his hand up and saying "I didn't prepare the players, it's my fault", to me really underlines that mentality. He thinks he has to micromanage everything they do. Rennie on the other hand, was about personal empowerment and personal decision making and learning from those decisions/mistakes. He was growing an Australian team that was first and foremost, learning how to be good at rugby on the field, not on a training paddock. And while he didn't have "wins on the board", like everyone has noted, he brought an injury riddled team close to winning against some of the best teams in the world. Despite these losses, the team looked like they were building self belief on the field and I really would have liked to see whether Rennie had used these last few months to consolidate some tactics that could have seen the Wallabies rise from the ashes of decades of ARU mismanagement. Instead, ARU mismanagement stepped in again, chasing after some quick dollars. Rugby at its heart is a sport played by people, if all you focus on is "the process" and the money, then 20+ years of under achievement is what you get.

You could put the best Rugby coach in the world in there (whoever that is), and it still wont change the outcome at the RWC. The Wallabies actually have a good draw in the WC, but I am still not confident that can even get past the quarters. You would hope, given their group, they can at least advanced past the group stages.

Raelene Castle. Israel Folau. Dave Rennie. Eddie Jones. Seriously - when was the last time Australian Rugby got a Human Resources call right? The ARU is an international sporting punchline.

How can I watch full podcast

I knew ozzy management was would ruin rugby when they dropped folau over winning championships

I will go yes and no I think a couple of key personnel would be the difference for me for Dave would have chosen and what Jones would have chosen for the side but it is something that everyone thought was good idea at the time. Eddie chosen to many out of form players who have not played rugby due to injury that is the mistake.

None of these blokes have played top level rugby ,end of story not qualified to comment

Yea Eddie probably thinks he’s taking pressure off his players but his off the cuff comments piles more pressure on his team imo. Talks a good game, loses 3 in a row. 😮

Goode has such a chip on his shoulder about Eddie. Let it go mate.

Eddie Jones is the best rugby coach on earth and as a kiwi I know he's a f@# kin arseh@#e but he's done wonders Transitional periods are difficult,he can't wave a magic want and turn everything around instantly.😊

Doesn’t matter who coaches Australia. The truth is there is a limited talent pool and so much competition from both Rugby League and especially AFL. The other top nations, France, South Africa and New Zealand don’t have to worry about that.

The point being is this is the second time around,Eddies first effort was full of bullshit press conferences and lack of winning performances.

It is very basic If you pick Quade Cooper it’s game over at test level Please let the young talent shine Carter Gordon managed the h game well Same the game before It is no coincidence that the game changes the exact time Quade Cooper takes the field Quade is talented but not a test match winning game manager!

What did they mean by what a lid on Carter Gordon.Thought he was shocking bad in the game

Australia got an easy pool Fiji Georgia and all that stuff, no mention of Wales goode how disrespectful ffs.

I think Eddy lost his mojo before the `2019 world cup, he was just living on borrowed time.

I am Australian, Dave Rennie, a Kiwi, was a very good Wallaby coach developing a sub par team and achieved that almost beating the AB’s, France and Ireland. Then Eddie comes along, because of more dumb RA leadership. Eddie says he will win every cup and publicly pokes the AB’s .. “ they should be scared”! Conclusion, The Wallabies are on track to lose all five games under Eddie leading into the RWC.

Get rid of Eddie ❤❤❤

“Mate, come on a journey. And get off my #%#ing lawn”

What has been done over the last year by Aussie rugby is symptomatic of what happens when there's a kneejerk grasping at straws approach to the game. In 2022 we here in NZ could have done the same thing with Ian Foster I suppose, good that it didn't happen.

Rugby is dying in Oz,AFL is massive,NRL is big,union is way down the pecking order of sports in Australia. Oz supporters don’t bat an eyelid if we lose to the ABs.It’s their number 1.

Yep...stupid move Aussie...Rennie is an incredibly smart coach...he was building some real talent...he's used to coaching Islanders and what a stupid move to get rid of the guy...every Kiwi fan breathed a sigh of disbelief shock and relief...when Rennie was sacked...Eddie...washed out

There is an unfortunate culture in rugby administration in Australia It is based on influences from highly privileged private schools They prefer to protect the game from change and have no desire to develop or expand the game This is essentially NSW Unbelievable talent comes through the system at NSW and they continually underperform 100% a cultural issue there and it penetrates the entire sport in Australia Privileged school boys leading to privileged administrators

Australian Rugby is in a very very pathetic situation. Rennie was going in a direction. What is Australian Rugby now? Lost.

What a surprise, poms whinging about Australians, seems to be in style recently. Eddie Jones coached England to a WC final and you guys are writing him off as a clown? He’s had the team for a few months and the hard truth is that the talent pool here is shot to bits. Rennie wasn’t going to win the WC, so you can rack your cues about if it was the right call to move him on. His win percentage was woeful. The results haven’t reflected well on Eddie, but at least he knows what he’s dealing with now. We aren’t winning the WC, but guess what, neither are England 🙂

What a lot of people outside of Australia don't understand is Rugby is getting most if not all second class talent. League is without a doubt the top "rugby" players in the country. Eddie Jones understands that and will hopefully attack our best League players for a home world cup. Eddie is looking at a harder job then most national coaches, simply because he doesn't have players that could suit the game. Hopefully he can do a bit of a raid Rugby League. You talk about looking for a 10, the best 10s are playing League, imagine Nathan Cleary or Cameron Munster with 4-5 years playing top level union. It isn't going to happen but my point is Rugby is dying here and there needs to be major shake up to fix it, which won't happen.

Eddie for 5 years... "where there's a Wallaby, there's a way" 😂 another ARU payout on its way

What do you expect with the amount of time he's had, I think you have to have this conversation after a couple of years in the role. It's stupid to be changing coach so close to a world cup, England also probably not ready.

Its classic RA BS. They have killed the Wallabies and managed to damage Australian rugby at every level. We are 2nd tier now, with no development pathways and an evaporating fan base.

Dave Rennie lost 9 tests last year ffs, they were going nowhere under Rennie

Dave Rennie was done in Eddie is in a fix thus, the Auzzies as competitors What more is there to say? But, Eddie IS a very hard worker Perhaps ‘good fortune’ will smile upon Team AND Coach ~ along the way❓ At the moment it is ‘way beyond the horizon’…the way it appears on both Park ánd scoreboard Excite the great players at hand, perhaps the rest will ignite as well which will be really good A rather serious, stressfull calamity right now How it is Best of luck though, in the very best interest of the Game of RF for the South…👊🔥‼️

Eddie Jones is one of the most dislikeable coaches around but it's undenibale he is has the best timing in getting signed....

The MCG was full of Kiwis so don't give Eddie too much praise.

The SA team that played the wallabies was better than the one which played the ABs.

His team gets hammered and he's in the post presser or the one leading up to the next match smirking and joking. Coaching at this level ain't for him no more.

Wallabies walk into the world cup with ZERO pressure. world cup has Pool matches, then quarters, semi's then GF. Wallabies are known to build momentum during the tourney. Zero worries about wallabies walking into the RWC this year, they're my dark horse on the punt. Alaalatoa is a massive loss though.

Rennie got shafted.

RENEE BE LIKE.....😂😂😂😂😂😂

I think Eddie peaked with England in 2016. He's been on a steady decline since.

Eddie is a flop. They should have never booted Rennie. Rennie had a 39% success rate in 2022 with absolutely fark all quality players. Eddie jones had a 33% record in 2022 with an open cheque book with England, the worlds most well resourced nation and biggest pool of experienced players to choose from. So he gets sacked from England and the ARU think it’s ok to sack a brilliant coach (Rennie) who’s building culture and winning positively and tracking a positive trajectory (this is in the words of the players too) and the corporate cowboys engage someone going down quickly because he talks smack, makes the game about him in the media and gets more clicks in the media at his sheer arrogance and ego. You’ve got a big future in comedy, politics or used car sales Mr Eddie Jones. Bring back Rennie.

Has Eddie Jones not got to a world final on more than one occasion. Love listening to the clueless English

I think it was a huge mistake. They are embarrassing themselves now, and will probably have the worst world cup in Wallaby history. I hope I am wrong.

Neither was the right call! Cheika was always the right one but no patient in RA and the cursed of Folau’s saga is coming and it’s gonna be a long long time! Till RA,the Aussies Journos distance themselves from WOKEs,the cursed will stay!!!

Huge Dave Had it. I'm so happy they did. They gona get beat early!! I'm betting against them in all their game's. Eeeeeasy money!!

Thats what happens when you have a clown in the form of HAMMISH MCLANNAN. Never considered what the players wanted. Unfold the scenario last year when Foster was about to be axed. The 2nd test against Springboks clearly showed the support which was always there of the whole group around him.