Newly appointed Rugby Australia president Joe Roff feels like a “dam is about to burst” with Eddie Jones at the helm of the Wallabies.
The Wallabies great believes that under Jones the side can grow into a formidable side – one with a psychological edge to their game.
Jones has five Tests to align the stars in the Wallabies camp before the two-time winners descend on France for another crack at the World Cup.
Jones can provide winning edge
Roff feels there is talent in the Australian ranks, but the side lacks a winning mentality, something Jones could well develop during his time in the hot seat.
“The psychology and the one per cent wins is something that in my early days playing for the Wallabies we didn’t quite have but we learnt that and we built that as a team,” Roff told AAP.
“Eddie will bring that edge, that psychological edge to the game.
“We know that playing against the Pumas, he’s coaching against his old friend Michael Cheika and let’s hope the acoustics in the respective coaches’ boxes are strong because there will be plenty of noise and rivalry between those two old friends and foes.
“And this is what Eddie is great at. He’s never backward in putting a strong and confident step forward and players will feel that and it will rub off on them.
“There’s no question about the talent that is in this team and it’s about building the combinations and the winning momentum and so these Test matches early on are going to be an exciting opportunity to get that momentum started.”
Golden era loading?
Roff was a member of one of the greatest Australian sides that won the World Cup in 1999 and one of the few to hold the Bledisloe Cup – a trophy the Wallabies have not won since 2002.
With the World Cup later this year, the British & Irish Lions tour in 2025 and hosting the 2027 World Cup, Roff underlined the “strong national agenda” to get back to winning ways.
“I had the great honour of being in the change room when we held the Bledisloe Cup and when we held the Rugby World Cup and I feel like it’s a dam that’s about to burst,” Roff said.
“Not only with the fact that we have the Rugby World Cup and we’ve always performed well in the northern hemisphere.
“We have the Lions coming (in 2025) and we have a home World Cup in a few years (2027).
“There’s a strong recruitment drive, there’s a strong national agenda and approach to what we’re doing.
“So it’s an exciting time to be a part of it.”
The Wallabies’ first Test is against the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on July 8 in the Rugby Championship.
READ MORE: Rugby World Cup: Picking a form All Blacks XV from this season
The article Wallabies: ‘A dam is about to burst’ with Eddie Jones at the helm appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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