Eddie Jones has lashed out at a ‘smart arse’ South African reporter after the Wallabies coach was left fuming after the side’s dismal 43-12 drubbing against an understrength Springboks side.
The first match of Jones’ second stint at the helm of the Wallabies fell disastrously flat as Australia surrendered meekly in the second half to a Springboks team that was missing almost all of its best players.
It meant yet again the Wallabies failed to break the 60-year hoodoo at Pretoria, where Australia has never won – much to the delight of the 50,000 strong crowd at Versfeld Stadium.
Much of the discussion pre-match centred around the fact South Africa – who play the All Blacks on Saturday – sent a dozen of their top players to New Zealand early to prepare for the crunch clash.
Jones was disappointed, telling reporters he wanted to play against the best team as his side looked to ‘set a new standard for Wallabies rugby’.
Eddie Jones was left fuming about a question from a South African reporter after the Wallabies were thrashed by the Springboks
Dejected Wallabies look on as South African cult hero Kurt-Lee Arendse (no. 11) celebrates his hattrick
That appeared to still be in the mind of one South African reporter after the game, who gleefully pointed out Jones’ comments to the man himself.
‘Eddie, you expressed your disappointment in the week that you weren’t playing the first-choice Springboks side. Is that a bit of relief now?’ asked the bold journalist.
It did not please a fuming Jones, who reined in his famous passion and relentless desire to win with a more curt, incredulous response as he sat alongside Aussie skipper James Slipper.
‘South Africans are good at winning. You don’t have to be a smartarse mate,’ the Wallabies coach clapped back.
‘We were well and truly beaten today by a Springboks side that old mate (reporter) is calling the B team, right? I never knew there was a Springboks side that was called the B team.’
It didn’t end there, either, with a still furious Jones tracking down the reporter to criticise the poorly-timed and worded question further.
‘You should have more respect mate. I never said that mate. I said we always want to play the best. Show some respect,’ he was overheard saying to the journalist in question in Pretoria, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Jones was understandably fuming regardless of the question.
Jones lashed the reporter for not showing enough respect, calling him a ‘smart arse’ for the cheeky question
Marika Koroibete opened the scoring in the seventh minute – but it was all downhill for the Wallabies from there, with the side not managing another five-pointer until after the full-time siren
Agony and ectasy: A dejected Wallaby strolls past South African players celebrating their win
After scoring the first try of the Test seven minutes in, his Wallabies side barely fired a shot in the ensuing 70 minutes, with their second five-pointer only coming after the final siren had sounded.
The stats were damning, conceding 13 penalties to South Africa’s three; losing the possession count 63 per cent to 37 per cent and, particularly jarring given Jones’ desire to play running rugby, making just 385 metres compared to the Springboks’ 684 metres.
Things were even worse to the naked eye for those watching, with the Wallabies thoroughly outplayed in set pieces, kicking, at the breakdown and left wanting when it came to effort and intensity.
Jones ranked the loss the worst he had experienced in Pretoria, quite the statement given his Queensland Reds once lost 92-3 at the venue in a Super Rugby game in 2007.
On the plus side, young fly-half Carter Gordon did provide some highlights when he was put into the game from the bench, looking at ease with the ball in hand and scoring a brilliant long range try.
Given Quade Cooper was poor throughout and barely had an influence on the game, Gordon’s performance will give some solace to Jones; with his decision to entrust NRL convert Suliasi Vunivalu with a wing spot also unfortunately blowing up with yet another shocker from the inconsistent, albeit athletic, powerhouse.
‘We just got beaten to the punch everywhere,’ a deflated Jones told Wallabies great Morgan Turinui on Stan Sports’ broadcast after the match.
‘We got beaten in the set piece. We got beaten on the gain line, we got beaten in the air. And if you don’t win any of those contests, you know it’s going to be a long day in the office, which it was for us today.
‘There wasn’t too many positives today. Every time they got an opportunity, they converted it into points.’
The South African pack monstered the hapless Wallabies, while diminutive cult hero Kurt-Lee Arendse nabbed himself a hattrick in just his eighth Test.
Slipper conceded the side could not handle the heat at the iconic stadium.
Kurt-Lee Arendse beats a poor attempt by Suliasi Vunivalu (on ground) to score one of his three tries for the match
The Springboks were superior in every facet of the game despite fielding a severely weakened side
‘Most of the areas in the game we lost,’ he said at the awkward press conference following the loss.
‘We weren’t good enough. We started well but when we lost momentum and the pressure came on we didn’t deal with it enough.’
Despite the shocking start to their Rugby Championship, Jones is confident the side can rebound against their former coach Michael Cheika and his powerful Argentina side.
‘We’ve got to identify two or three areas and one’s certainly the consistency of our set piece,’ he said.
‘Our scrum definitely needs a continual work on and then we’ve got to find ways to get over the gain line. So we fix those against Argentina and we’ll be back in the money.’
The Aussie players will now lick their wounds on the flight back Down Under, with the side scheduled to take on the Pumas at 7.45pm on Saturday night at Parramatta Stadium in Sydney.
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