Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones has pinned the blame on their heavy defeat to the All Blacks on himself after they ended the Rugby Championship in last spot.
The loss means Australia finish at the foot of the standings after three rounds, with Argentina in third, South Africa second and New Zealand top of the pile.
After a bright start where they led 7-5, the hosts were then brutally put to the sword as the six-try All Blacks cruised to a 38-7 win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
That’s my fault
Jones had no excuses for the 83,944 supporters who had turned out at the venue as the former England head coach spoke to the media after the Bledisloe Cup defeat.
“We apologise to all the fans and it’s not good enough, but that’s my fault. That’s my responsibility and I’ll take it on the chin,” said the Wallabies boss.
“It’s a terrible result and I take full responsibility for it.
“But I’ve coached teams like this before and you can turn it around.
“I saw enough to know that we can be a bloody good team – it doesn’t look like it at the moment but I’m telling you we can.”
While Jones was pleased with his side’s start to the game, the head coach lamented their inability to maintain that performance for the full match at the MCG.
“You’ve got to be able to do that for 80 minutes and when you put teams under pressure you’ve got to be able to convert that into points and we’re not good enough to do that at the moment,” he said.
“My experience is that when you’re trying to play a different way you can do it for periods of time and then you can’t as it’s not automatic enough.”
🇦🇺🇳🇿 Takeaways from the All Blacks’ win over the Wallabies. #AUSvNZL
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) July 30, 2023
However, Jones offered a glimmer of hope to fans as he recalled a similar loss to New Zealand in 2003 before they went on to beat them in the World Cup semis.
“We got hammered by more than this,” he said of that Tri-Nations defeat.
Hard work to do
“I saw enough to make me believe that we can (turn it around) but there’s a lot of hard work to do.
“Transforming a team from where they are now to a team that’s capable of beating New Zealand takes a lot of hard work and the clock’s ticking but we’ve still got time.”
Next up for the wounded Wallabies is the second Bledisloe Cup clash of the year, which takes place at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Saturday, August 5.
READ MORE: Eddie Jones a ‘charlatan’ whose Wallabies return has been a ‘bloody disaster’
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