The Most Miserable Coaching Tenure in Rugby History

[@johannrugby3811]

There were Australian teams who won Super Rugby after 2011, remember WHAT THE WARATAHS did in 2014?

[@ConnorDoesRugby]

Thanks for the correction 🙂

[@johannrugby3811]

@@ConnorDoesRugby No problem bro, haha.

[@JamesHildreth-c8d]

Reds and Brumbies have a super rugby title, Crusades have so many, blues 3, Chiefs 2, Canes and Landers 1.

[@MrAhuapai]

They were lucky . Craig Joubert got it completely wrong in the final minutes and penalised wrongly penalised McCaw at the breakdown. McCaw was entitled to attack the ball and Joubert rang the Crusaders coach after the match to apologise for his mistake. You can imagine Blackadder's response "bit bloody late now mate" Joubert must of loved Aussie teams . He also was responsible for a offside call against the Scots vs the Wallabies in QFs 2015 which meant the Aussies won. . Again footage clearly showed Jouberts error in the call.

[@markkane1632]

At England, Eddie was the beneficiary of fortuitous timing - he benefitted from the years of groundwork put in by Stuart Lancaster and his coaching team in developing the players that were ready-made to star for England under Eddie. Luckily Ireland managed to pick up the coaching team hastily discarded by the RFU - Stuart Lancaster for Leinster, Andy Farrell and Mike Catt for Ireland and Graham Rowntree for Munster - who have all gone on to deliver success. Rugby Australia and the RFU share a similar malaise - the blazers at the top, as the saying goes, a fish starts to stink at the head.

[@vinniechan]

The expectation on England is immense and with a system producing so much depth if you don't deliver there is always the next person banging on the door At the end of the day it's not like Ireland managed to get out of the world cup quarter anyway

[@markkane1632]

@@vinniechan Ireland were #1 in the world for a year thanks to player development and coaching ticket. Yes - they narrowly missed out on getting past the QF, but their structures are stronger than England Rugby, who continue to be prone to knee-jerk reactions rather than backing their coaches. Long may it continue, as we enjoy beating England, especially at Twickenham.

[@YOUSEFTECALB]

It says a lot when the Jaguares won more games in New Zealand during their short time in Super Rugby than the Aussie teams have done since the Jaguares were booted out. Great video mate. Seeing you're Scottish, I would love to see you do a video on the issues of youth development in Scotland, but I fear that might drive you to tears. 😅

[@AlphaNevada123]

It’s driving a lot of people to tears up here 😭 just hope they fix it soon, can’t rely on getting a Duhan or Schoeman anymore.

[@casperredsman]

I was keeping in the biggest “I told you so” for people happy to get Eddie back. His last tenure here ended in failure and started the 20 year nosedive we’ve been on. Why anyone ever thought going back to Eddie in the first place was a good idea has me absolutely stumped. I’m at the point where I doubt if Eddie Jones was EVER good

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

From an Irish guy Australia right now is where we were in the 90s and trust me that was a pretty fucking miserable time In the 90s we finished last in the at the time 5 nations 5 times For reference since the six nations era has begun we have never finished last so it does get better but you need proper investment and strategy Our right board the IRFU is one of the best in the world for development and strategy we have one of the smallest populations of the relevant rugby countries and rugby is our 4th most popular sport yet we're one of the best in the world that's what proper investment and strategy can get you

[@vinniechan]

I was open minded about Eddie appointment at the time I thought perhaps he could provide some quick fixes to the Aussie rugby but the way he tossed out half the squad was a decision that could ever be justified by results At the end of the day he fell on his own sword

[@karloswharekawa5558]

Did he get 2 cracks at it?

[@andrewgirdlestone7607]

The thing is with the ARU they Brought Eddie in do do two jobs, One was to revitalise the Australian public to union, 2nd to run a team at the RWC. Did he make bad choices for the RWC oh hell yes he did, but as to the 1st part we’ll never know. Is he a good coach yes, is he wasteful of resources yes ( just look at the amount of com systems he went through….but I felt he should have taken or been given a DOR role for the whole of ARU. Union is the 4-5 th national game and frankly seems to be die ing, have they got good players, hell yes the do but it’s the ARU who seem to be letting the players down. Not unlike what’s going on at Twickenham with the RFU.

[@cordlxze9559]

@@kurtpunchesthings2411 Did Ireland have a rapidly growing, far more accessible and richer version of rugby growing in the 90s though? That’s the problem for Australia. The premier product for the public is NRL and AFL

[@JKMeZmA]

Think RA are absolutely in shambles. Feel so bad for Dave Rennie, and Eddie Jones was a great coach, but is an absolute liability, and has caused such an impact on the hope for the wallabies, and he really did break them. I’d be really keen to see a proper replacement coach, who can change the systems in RA and get some solid structure in that area. Someone like a Joe Schmidt, Vern Cotter, Jamie Joseph, Graham Rowntree, or Stuart Lancaster. Genuinely transformative leadership ya know? I know coaches don’t change the overall systems, but true professionalism could give them the chance to build it to something better.

[@johnstirling6597]

Eddie Jones is very much a crash through or crash coach. His decision to leave the senior players home and go with the youth was a bad idea, especially leading into a world cup where the right blend of youth, leadership and experience is vital. It all blew up in everyone's face in the end and left RA looking like a turd in the swimming pool. PS, I was at school with Vern Cotter, they could do a whole lot worse than him as coach.

[@tombutcher3021]

No fans or pundits were excited. Sorry Rennie was done over and on the NH tour they had some close losses along with 14 first choice players injured or unavailable. Aussies were on an upward curve. Eddie with his contacts bailed on England and had theAussie job lined up. Eddie messed up many careers did not develop players injured players in training and stopped attacking. Not to mention Selected favourites and fell out with a load of very good coaches. 2019 yes we got to the final, but before that England was on a downward trajectory attacking and selection. 2019 made Eddie look good. I respect him wanted him until 2018 where he clearly ran out of ideas. Why Aussies got rid of Rennie is beyond me.

[@holyluchadore]

Rennie had a history of overtraining and you can't chalk up 14 injured players in an international side as bad luck. Public interest in the sport was at an all time low and Rennie's side wasn't producing enough results to maintain confidence in his leadership. I still agree that sacking him was the wrong choice however Eddie's atrocious tenure certainly makes him look better. Hopefully with new leadership at the top of Rugby Australia (Hamish McLennan has never had anything to do with rugby, and he had been head of RA since 2023) will mean more informed choices.

[@tombutcher3021]

@@holyluchadore 14 were not injured most were playing in France and had to go and play for their clubs. Eddie had a history of over training too.

[@simonkevnorris]

I grew up in Perth (WA) but moved to the UK in 1989. At that point rugby was really only played professionally in New South Wales and Queensland. If that is still the case then I presume the available population for rugby is limited.

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

Correct. It cannot compete with the AFL and NRL. No cattle or money and little national interest.

[@NickWasiliev_Official]

Great video mate, bar the small footnote that the Tahs won in 2014. I cannot emphasise it being such a small footnote, because since 2015 it has been a disaster here. The saddest part is though that the lack of investment and planning is coming back to bite us hard, plus the rugby politics in Australia kneecaps any potential. It doesn't feel like we can turn things around. It feels like it is only going to get worse.

[@holcable]

Pretty great video. One mention is the Rugby League players you referenced who "turned to League" to go professional played League their whole life and only played Union in High School. In Australia the cashed up Rugby Union playing private schools scout the best League juniors to come play for them via scholarships. Most continue playing League throughout High School with their junior clubs and/or NRL representative sides and simply continue with these teams once school is finished.

[@Caledon1893]

Good video mate. Worth mentioning Eddie's duplicitous conduct during interviews, speaking to Japan while coaching Australia then lying about it shows he has no integrity.

[@ConnorDoesRugby]

Yeah it’s pretty diabolical

[@noelburland7169]

I think you have covered most of the issues facing rugby in Australia well. They have well and truly hit rock bottom and have a lot of work to do to repair the damage done in time for the British and Irish Lions tour next year and the World Cup in three and a half year's time. Of course Eddie Jones will cop a lot of the blame for seemingly single-handedly destroying the Wallabies, but things were going south long before he was snatched up by RA after being sacked by the RFU in England. The RA Board aren't investing enough in the grassroots and former Chairman Hamish McLennan seemed only interested in spending 1.6 million AUD luring a league player over to union and being a constant thorn in the sides of his business partners, even going as far as publicly airing his dirty laundry in an effort to make them look bad. I've heard that RA were unwilling to meet Jones' stipulations when hired, specifically around investing more in the grassroots. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why he took such an inexperienced squad to France? Maybe he wanted them to bomb out early to make the board members in RA wake up? Jones clearly had limited tolerance of his now former employers, but his own hubris got the better of him when it was revealed he had had a meeting with the Japan Rugby Union prior to the World Cup. He allegedly denied it 14 times to the media before he quit the Wallabies and was later unveiled as returning to the brave blossoms for a second stint there.

[@davesmith826]

The real question is not why did Australia hire Eddie Jones, but why did Australia get the nod for the 2027 World Cup? They've done nothing to deserve it. They were instrumental in driving the South Africans out of the Pro 14 and they've brought nothing new or innovative to the international test game. The South Africans were supposed to host this year's World Cup but the French got it in a clear case of sporting corruption. They should have been given the 2027 rights, not least because they've only hosted the competition once and won it four times.

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

Rugby is a very minor game in Australia. Roughly half the country doesn’t even know it exists!

[@winna121]

Nice video mate! I remember going to Tahs/Wallabies games as a young fella when the likes of Wendell Sailor and Peter Hewitt were running around. The crowds were generally pretty massive. Fast forward to a couple of years ago we played the Poms at the SCG, semi full house with ZERO atmosphere. The game is dying a slow death in Aus, the NRL dominates NSW and QLD, whilst the AFL dominates the rest of the country. Nobody watches or talks about the Wallabies anymore. Sad!

[@Samizouza]

The new HPU guy RA hired should help alot, especially after a makeover from the top down.

[@TheTherealbadboy]

2:16 " one of the biggest names in Aussie rugby, Nwataniqzwakwakeawenakakanaweanana" Id say thats one of the biggesr names in the world let alone aussuw rugby

[@handcrafted30]

This is a great video. I’d love to see a video comparing similar numbers on rugby engagement for other countries. There was a bbc doco recently that have similar 50% drops in people playing the game across a 10yr period. A video dedicated to rugby engagement across countries would be awesome.

[@AlanHughes-w6s]

The drop in attendance may be to do with how boring the game has become, endless scrum recycling, kickers taking forever to kick conversions and penalties, obscure rules which lead to players being sent off and most spectators not knowing why.

[@DistractedSports]

Great Video mate!! It all went about as badly as it possibly could have for the Aussies this year. It's not good at all for our region; NZ needs a strong Wallaby outfit.

[@ConnorDoesRugby]

Thanks mate, Couldn't agree more. Love your stuff mate!!!

[@vinniechan]

As an England fan I watch the Wallabies under Dave Rennie My impression was that they didn't always get the results but they definitely showed incremental improvements in area I had been most critical of them Granted their set piece and contact area weren't world beating but at least they didn't suck and held their own which is more than you could say before that The way Eddie Jones tossed out half the group going into the RWC was always a decision that could have been justified by the results He died on his own sword

[@dustinphillips2372]

I'm from NZ and I was excited to hear Eddie Jones in as coach for wallabies...but unfortunately, Aussie athletes play for money. Where as we (in NZ) play for the love of the game since the age of 4

[@6legna6krad6]

The Waratahs were the last aussie side to win Super Rugby in 2014

[@ErnestJHobbs]

Remember how often he said he was "committed to Rugby Australia"...?

[@Natedawg38]

I would really love a documentary on Eddie's tenure with the wallabies

[@NickWasiliev_Official]

Stan have recorded one. It's coming

[@1250GSX]

Yep it's coming and it will be a train crash

[@JoeTheLion60]

In retrospect Eddie's good run for England was probably just due to his inheriting and maintaining Stuart Lancaster's setup and players. Replacing Lancaster was a big mistake..

[@kye4216]

Stop it. Lancaster wasn’t winning ANYTHING. Don’t act like he inherited some super team, they couldnt even get out of groups in their own World Cup. Eddie made them into arguably the best team in Rugby for a few years, he deserves credit for that.

[@justinhollis5579]

It's only miserable if you follow Ruby Union. As an avid Rugby League fan it's the best thing to happen sine Releighn Castle stopped destroying the Canterbury Bulldogs to go destroy the ARU...Shout out to Israel Folau

[@reefrunnerart]

Desperately trying not to grant myself too much hope. But I am excited to see what Joe Schmidt can bring to the Wallabies.

[@burrowssj]

EJ is a disgrace. The coach that came in after his first stint said he had never seen a bunch of men so depleted in his coaching years. He also expressed his disappointment immediately after EJ second appointment. I think the best thing is to start at the grassroots again, make rugby a sport young people want to play and incentivize them to do so, start giving out prize money to teams who win the local comps, start giving resources to the grassroot coaches and scholarships etc. Get it into public schools and incentivize the schools to have good rugby programs by rewarding them with prize money, base money earnt on performance and give bonuses to teams that excel. Sell it as an international sport that is rewarding for young talents to pick. As great as NRL and AR is, they're not international games, the future is much brighter for these guys if they know they can go overseas and earn mega bucks and still play for ARU. The other thing is, stop basing your success on if you can beat the ABs.

[@eddiewebeck4112]

Love the Mark Bonano cameo at 1:04

[@oinkooink]

Might help if Australia picked Australians to play in the team instead of Fiji and the south pacific islands. Or they could just surrender the Australian name and call themselves The Common House Cat Internationalists.

[@effkay3691]

So you like your Rugby players pale.

[@kylekutasi950]

Australian Rugby is like an orange tree that has been cut down. The fruit remains edible for longer than the death of the tree, but once it starts to rot, there’ll never be anymore fruit. We cut down the tree in 95 when everything went behind the pay TV paywall. We now have an entire generation of potential players and fans who have NEVER seen a game of rugby on TV. The AFL by comparison force their broadcasters to show live games into Sydney and Brisbane, where the games don’t rate highly. Rugby took the opposite approach and went for short term coin but long term pain. And it’s very hard to fix once we’re in this death spiral

[@BoxyMan28]

I don't think the Wallabies will get much better in today's game. Simply because there's not much money in it compared to League. As time goes on I think it'll just get worse. It's a shame as they've had phenomenal players and teams over the years.

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

It's crazy how bad things have gotten they were the first country to ever win 2 World cups 1991,1999 Incredibly unlucky in 03 not to win their 3rd RWC and since then its been mostly yeahhhh Hell it's so bad from an Irish guy there used to be alot of worry when we would play Australia for how tough a game it would be but now ? Frankly we see Scotland as a bigger test then Australia that should tell you how far they have fallen

[@TCt83067695]

The editing on this was truly stressing me out 😩 Another recommendation if it's useful, when doing number comparisons, it's usually best to have the data side by side. Maybe like in a table

[@calmkidcalamity9125]

Great vid. I still have hope for RA but it will take a big overall

[@ConnorDoesRugby]

You and me both!

[@robbiebalboa]

You can get any coach in. The limitations of Australians players is going force them to slip further. You expect the super rugby to be the only elite pathway for international rugby and the source of talent is pretty much players from a bunch spoilt private school kids. They need to create a league outside of super rugby for starters.

[@declansb641]

Worth mentioning you can't even watch rugby in Australia without a subscription unlike every other sport

[@jameswinestock5321]

Me, a Tah’s fan, realising that our win in 2014 was such an anomaly that I’m not even made Connor ignored it 😢

[@ConnorDoesRugby]

Haha I’m sorry, if it helps my team is never won anything ever lol

[@MichaeldeSousaCruz]

Good video, but you’re missing some important information. Injuries. There were players kept off the squad because of injuries and injury concerns. And then during the World Cup there were injuries to important players such as Skelton that played a major factor in how Australia fared. I agree NRL is taking over in Australia, but Union is not helping itself by having 5 pro teams. When Australia was most dominant they had only 2 pro teams, QLD & NSW… hmmm… doesn’t NRL also have a very popular comp involving those two provinces? 🤔 fishing in the same swamp are they? 🤔 Union in Australia has to consolidate.

[@johannrugby3811]

I think a combination of Schmidt and McKellar would work for the wallabies with Schmidt being the head coach. But it will obviously cost a lot of money for Australian rugby to get McKellar out of his long term contract with Leicester. Also, Laurie Fischer must be the defence coach as the brumbies defence was brilliant when he was working as defence coach under McKellar there.

[@ConnorDoesRugby]

Yeah!! That would be a great coaching team. but I imagine Leicester would be reluctant to let another head coach leave

[@Samizouza]

Agreed, pity about McKellar's commitment though

[@Matt-od8ih]

This same side Eddie picked will gel, prosper and peak just in time for the world cup at home.

[@PaulWilliams-on3ir]

Feel sorry for Japan.They obviously have no idea how bad he has been recently.

[@simonsbergblinds7532]

From South Africa.

[@karloswharekawa5558]

Should’ve given him a chance. Ask Teddy Henry

[@greymouser8659]

Oz fans most certainly were not excited by the appointment :/

[@ignaciomedina7941]

Hello, you are mainly pointing facts that we all know. It would be good to see a video analyzing why Australian rugby has declined so much

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

Because it’s basically a game played by private schools in NSW and Queensland. The majority play/watch AFL and NRL.

[@HibeeMcbee]

As a Scotsman who was present at the 2015 World Cup QF, it brings me extreme satisfaction to witness the decline of Australian rugby. Get it right up them!

[@GlwaddynionForest]

kinda funny lol, australians probably dont even think about you

[@ckromuluss11and89]

i dont think rugby will ever return to what it was here in australia, but the biggest issue is how its dying in new zealand , un affordable

[@joedennehy386]

They need to reduce to 3 super rugby sides, making one or two competitive. They dont have the talent. Jones has a pretty average record as a head coach

[@casperredsman]

Unfortunately it’s at the point where the horse has bolted in terms of cutting teams. Getting rid of any of them just hands the region to other sports on silver platter encrusted with diamonds. I wouldn’t say so much that the talent isn’t there but the development and retention of that talent is absolutely GARBAGE. Watch Mack Hansen become world class as soon as he leaves RA. Sione tuipolotu once touted as the rebels first home grown player now is starting test centre…… for Scotland. Will Skelton take his game to new height as soon as he leaves the Waratahs system. That and the career span over here is so minimal that within 4 years your looking at almost completely recycling a side as players take big money deals to go elsewhere.

[@Waywind420]

Jones was given an impossible task, and instead of rising to the challenge he decided to pour fuel over the whole thing and set it alight 🔥⛽ If you're going to sack Rennie because of his terrible results then you sack Rennie at the end of 2021 so that the new coach gets a 2022 and 2023 season to build the team. But Jones was not the guy for the job, even though he seemed like an obvious pick. Can't really blame the ARU for taking that bait, seemed like the stars had aligned as he had just been let go by England. Shambles and the ARU and Australian fans get what they deserve for all the blind support and corporate misdeeds that have gone down over the years (Folau drama, Di Patston, players complaining about a toxic playing environment, off field disciplinary issues, bloated coaching staff with team selectors etc)

[@andrewsmith-cm9qw]

Eddie Jones just talked himself and his team into the gutter.

[@VelvetRiot-hz5mp]

He was rugby's 'used car salesman'. His results speak for themselves. Wallabies would have gotten better coach just doing the old school captain acting as coach method of management.

[@iamnutty8471]

i am pretty sure he had vision to recruit league players like the 04 team ARU had no budget or wouldnt change guiteau rule, so why flog a dead horse, what he did was blood young guys like france in 2019 so he worked with what he had and then parted ways probably pre known but not published for RWC teams sake, so if you took a job and then u didnt like it and left for another whats wrong?

[@DannyBrah272]

Eddie purposely shafted ARU after the Australians called him a traitor for coaching England who beat them in their test a few years back

[@SenorTucano]

Gone are the glory days of the late 90’s. Rugby Union in Australia has become an elitist sport for private school snobs. It has zero grass roots development and is completely eclipsed by rugby league.

[@RobynWarbling]

Australia no heart, to blame the couch is ridiculous. Players are responsible for their poor performances..

[@texans442345]

17 NRL teams now 🤨🙄

[@tsaki_titan]

5:05 you meant: the B team of the best team in the world*

[@nichobee]

Rugby going professional killed the game in Australia. When the game was played by amateur athletes, our guys could beat anyone. But the country's top football athletes have never really been drawn to rugby union, meaning rugby had no elite talent after they couldn't use day-time bankers and lawyers anymore. Contrast this to everywhere else: NZ's best footy athletes play union, same in SA, same in the Northern Hemisphere. Our football market is more saturated than anyone's and rugby just loses out here when push comes to shove. This is why the ARU recruited NRL stars in the early 00s. At the time everyone laughably saw it as a threat to the NRL, but if aussie rugby had top talent in the first place then they wouldn't need to poach NRL players. Sure, we can invest more into grassroots, but is it going to make any real difference?

[@morrisanderson818]

Japan's got him now,poor buggers, Pity the bloke that takes over Japan,after they sack Eddie in a couple of years time,

[@fl7907]

Remember, EJ has not won a World Cup...

[@anthonylawrence523]

*17 NRL sides

[@patrickporter6536]

Eddie may have flopped, but he was entertaining-mate!

[@jamesfisher4892]

Fans and pundits were excited? By Eddie Jones? .......... 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Goneinthehead]

Thankfully teams always have a second chance. I Am sure Australia will have their day. Eddie Jones is useless and ruined the Australia team but the team have to play also. A good tradesman doesn’t blame his 🔨

[@FrancoisCalitz-h3j]

Eddie Jones was never one of the best coaches in world rugby. He is average compared to guys like Rassie, Jaques Nienhaber Steve Hanzen, Andy Farrel

[@MrWillt100]

Fast track Eddie, or take the money and run Eddie. What did he do? nothing but shit all over the ARU after they shit all over Dave Rennie. Well ARU you deserve everything you've created so I'm waiting for Smit to get his marching orders.

[@Eurynomos326]

Did anyone consider the possibility that Eddie Jones is amazing and it's just that England and Aus both suck.

[@peterhughes8699]

Hi Connor - I'm an aussie and WB fan. All good and fair comment from you imo. Add on that WBs will NOT be competitive against Lions in 2025 and unlikely to progress from pool again 2027 RWC....

[@iwillfactcheck]

No one plays or watches rugby in australia ....like saying how come aus didnt win the soccer world cup

[@kye4216]

Same is true for Ireland they still win.

[@iwillfactcheck]

@kye4216 good for u .....but nobody plays rugby in aus .its played in rich private schools .like rowing .nobody watches nobody plays no body cares .it only exists because they get international money .....now if they somehow do well .then people watch .same as aus womens soccer team

[@craigothedago7763]

Its all rigged..Eddie is a great coach..He must of offended the people running world rugby,and as they control the media,Eddie became the villain.All of rugby is rigged.Hard to watch these days..

[@1250GSX]

Lol. Great coach my ass.

[@Heresacoupleofacres]

Union just cant complete with rugby league in Australia anymore. And its not hard to tell why watching both codes. Yawnion is a whistle-blowing snore-fest, over-officiated with too much room for interpretation and turning soft as butter these days with endless yellow and red cards for players leading to even more penalty kicks at the posts. No thanks

[@honahwikeepa2115]

Wallabies always come back. US Kiwi know this.

[@poerava]

Eddie Jones is a narcissist.

[@simonsbergblinds7532]

So why, do we have , the next world cup here?! It is a chit show! We have way bigger and beter stadiums. This is mad. Ausies dont like rugby!

[@HeeniKeke]

corruption and mismanagement in government, significant unemployment, violent crime, insufficient infrastructure, and poor government service delivery to impoverished communities…just a few reasons South Africa not good venue

[@sohaydos]

Traitor jones

[@winna121]

Nice video mate! I remember going to Tahs/Wallabies games as a young fella when the likes of Wendell Sailor and Peter Hewitt were running around. The crowds were generally pretty massive. Fast forward to a couple of years ago we played the Poms at the SCG, semi full house with ZERO atmosphere. The game is dying a slow death in Aus, the NRL dominates NSW and QLD, whilst the AFL dominates the rest of the country. Nobody watches or talks about the Wallabies anymore. Sad!