Five big problems that Eddie Jones has already faced in Australia

Eddie Jones (center) and Australia made headlines for all the wrong reasons after their loss in Pretoria. Photo: Shutterstock/Kim Ludbrook < p>Repeatedly referring to a South African journalist as a «smart guy» was bound to make headlines in Eddie Jones' first post-match press conferences during his second tenure as Australia coach. the final months of his stay at Twickenham.

Digging a little deeper, however, Jones, reflecting on the loss at Pretoria, was delightfully forthright about where his team lost to a South African side who were about 10 players short of a starting composition.

“We really lost. in sets. We were beaten on the reinforcement line. We were beaten in the air,” Jones said, surviving the crash. Nick White, a wrestling veteran from Australia, called the loss «a baptism of fire». Jones wanted his side to be «mutts» but got puppies instead.

Rugby test is tough. pic.twitter.com/qyymVMHalf

— Lunga ibn Kupiso (@Lunga_Kupiso) July 8, 2023

However, the only way is up. This abbreviated rugby championship and additional warm-up test against the All Blacks seems like a fact-finding mission for Jones to figure out who can move that side forward and who is optional, unlike most other teams (other than England and Wales) who are adjustments and fine-tuning before the Rugby World Cup.

It's worth noting that in addition to the Wallabies playing Argentina in Sydney this week, the Australian 'A' team will play Tonga in Nuku'alofa, which has a lot of good players who should aspire to play for the Wallabies: Folau Fainga. a, Taniela Tupou, Luhan Salakaya-Lotto, Jake Gordon, Bernard Foley, James O'Connor and Harry Wilson, just to name a few.

When it comes to choice, no one is left indifferent , but Jones is catastrophically short of time. As for where things went wrong against South Africa, there's a lot to digest here.

Standard

Penalties in the scrum missed by the miserly Michael Alaalatoa don't even tell the whole story of Australia's struggles ahead. There's no shame in finishing second against front row Steven Kitschoff, Bonga Mbonambi and Frans Malherba — don't forget England struggled in November — but referee Ben O'Keef showed generosity by not penalizing Australia further after the series Dominant hits in the fight with Springboks were not rewarded.

Alaalatoa often passed out, and apart from some rare indiscretions — Malherbe was noted for spinning the fight after a crushing kickoff — the fight was something of a carnage. Neil Hatley, Jones' scrum coach at England's last World Cup and now looking after the Wallabies, is out of work.

Side scramble

The Australians will play better, with the locking Nick Frost in particular composing a couple of interceptions in the second in half.

However, given the skirmish on the retreat and bleeding penalties, it's no surprise that the Wallabies were unable to establish any territory or put pressure on the South African defense after Marika Koroibete's early attempt.

A winning line

An area where South Africa seeks to break the will of its opponents. The sheer number of passes made by the Springboks — 156 to Australia's 64 — is due to the Australians' overuse of boots, as well as their inability to slow South Africa from cancer to cancer. Michael Hooper pounced on a first-half penalty for losing the ball, but these key ruck encounters were rare as South Africa quickly cleared the rucks to feed a new wave of strong runners.

This combo is a brutal carry from the Springboks, starting with Marco van Staden. . .

Van Staden carries

. . . they were followed by André Esterhuizen and Pieter-Stef du Toit who created space for Kurt-Lee Arendse to score a hat-trick.

Jones wants — needs — Australia must stop these clashes and reduce momentum for the opposition, a goal made more difficult by the loss of Captain Hooper to a calf injury, the ability to poach and slow down the ruck.

Jones' comment about wallabies' shortcomings in the air really applies to their footwork in general. You had a Len Ikitau hit in the second half, like a grueling clearance caused by pressure from Lukanhyo Am that created a South African lineout that led to Arendse's hat-trick.

Tactically, the Wallabies wanted to hit for a long time and not let South Africa into their own half. But they were often inaccurate and any jumps left Koroibeta and Suliasi Vuniwal on the flanks with little opportunity to successfully chase and hold the ball. If you choose this tactic, then the execution must be better, otherwise you will end up in Australia with 37% possession and 40% territory. As noted by the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia kicked 32 times and only 64.

One white box kick in the first half was effective and saw Vuniwalu hit Arendse, creating a pass opportunity — only for two Wallabies misuse their hands in a ruck and convert a penalty, which brings us to . . .

Discipline

. . . The hangover of the Dave Rennie era, Jones' predecessor, is that discipline in Australia is still below par. The penalty accrual was 3-13 to South Africa and most of those penalties taken by Australia were admittedly due to pressure from the home team — Dave Poreka's yellow card for breaking a maul is a good example. /p>

Vunivalu's sin for deliberately knocking down was less forgivable — sometimes those shots were subtle, but not here — and followed the winger's earlier slapping penalty for knocking out Dwayne Vermeulen in the air after the restart. These are grievances that will infuriate Jones and must be addressed immediately.

The fly-half dilemma

Perhaps the only solace in Loftus other than playing Coroibete was Carter's debut off the bench. Gordon will replace Quaid Cooper.

Context matters here; South Africa scored 43 unanswered and the clock was in the red when Gordon did some magic. But the hit and break from the 22-year-old substitute combined with Coroibete was impressive as he scored a long-range shot.

No. 10 is an intriguing position for Australia. On the one hand, you have the veterans in Cooper, now 35, and Foley, 33, who have shone in the past but spent recent seasons in Japan, with Foley's Kubota Spears Funabashi winning the title this year. Noah Lolesio, Rennie's young shooter, was fired.

And now you have Gordon, 22, who appears to be a raw but natural talent who has scored seven tries in 13 appearances for the Melbourne Rebels.

Is Gordon rushing into a midfield role? with three warm-up games ahead of the Rugby World Cup a bit reckless? Possibly, but then Jones has little to lose at this point and perhaps much to gain if Gordon escapes.

Cooper will get a start against Argentina with Gordon on the bench, in a wallaby that looks stronger than in Pretoria (apart from the loss of Hooper), with Samu Kerevi starting in the center, Mark Navacanitavase on the wing. and a new partnership with castles featuring Richie Arnold and Will Skelton.

But if things go badly against Argentina, don't be surprised if Jones turns to Gordon, already affectionately known as the «Melbourne Mullet», to try and ignite the spark.