When Eddie Jones was announced as Australia’s new head coach in January, replacing the sacked Dave Rennie, there was a significant amount of hope around the country that his return to the team he was at the helm of between 2001 and 2005 would give the lacklustre Wallabies the spark that they needed and would see the former world champions start to regain their reputation as one of the dominant forces in the sport.
Unfortunately, results and performances have not lived up to expectations, with the team finishing bottom of the Rugby Championship table and experiencing their worst ever display at the Rugby World Cup, with losses to Fiji and Wales meaning that their time in France ended abruptly at the pool stages. Whilst there would have been some understanding that it would take time for Jones to make his mark on the team, there was a belief that the team could end this four-year cycle in a good way and could enter the next one (which will end with them hosting the 2027 tournament) with their heads held high.
At this point in time though, Australian rugby does seem to be at arguably its lowest point ever, with them sitting ninth in the world standings and really struggling to get out of the rut that they find themselves in. As for what has got them there, there are a number of things that are being talked over by fans and the media, such as questionable tactics, the absence of key players and individual errors, and this tactical analysis will show how each has contributed to the Wallabies’ poor run during 2023 so far.
Structural issues
With Jones currently finding himself in the firing line following Australia’s pool stage World Cup exit, it seems prudent to begin the analysis with a look at his tactics, and the thing that has been most noticeable about Australia’s setup under him is a desire to remain compact and to protect the central areas when they don’t have the ball.
However, by doing so, they have tended to leave the wings wide open and to make it very easy for opponents to score tries, and this has been evident in so many of their games throughout the year. When New Zealand visited the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the Rugby Championship in July, it was clear to see just how simple it was for them to construct attacks and to get the ball over the line, with both Blues’ Mark Telea and Crusaders’ Will Jordan having the freedom of Victoria to move around in at times whenever the ball came to them.
The fact that Australia were coming so narrow meant that the All Blacks could build delayed passes into their game plan, and that was shown here by Jordie Barrett delaying his offload here for a fraction of a second longer and drawing both winger Marika Koroibete and full-back Andrew Kellaway towards him, before releasing Jordan to ground the ball over the line.
From Australia’s point of view, what was particularly worrying about this was that the rest of the team didn’t seem to know what was happening, as highlighted here by centre Jordan Petaia not being aware that both Koroibete and Kellaway had left the gap open and that he was the last line of defence here, and his subsequent late reaction again gave Jordan an advantage and showed how Australia’s tactics are causing them so many problems at this moment in time.
Even when they do have players positioned in the wide channels, there has still been a very noticeable lack of clarity in Australia’s shape, with players not appearing to understand where they need to be and so situations like this happening, where some have drifted further infield and others have remained closer to the wings.
The result of that is that gaps like the one shown here have been prominent in their defensive line, and Argentina took full advantage of that when they met the Wallabies in Sydney during the second round of this year’s Championship. Los Pumas are known for making quick passes and for their key threats tending to move inside the pitch to get on the ball as early as possible, as was clear to see against Japan in their final World Cup pool game at the weekend, and this was another simple offload from flanker Pablo Matera to send Newcastle Falcons star Mateo Carreras through to score here.
It must have been so concerning for the fans and the coaching team to witness moments like this as the year as gone on, but it again comes down to their tactics and the fact that they do come so far inside the field whenever they don’t have the ball, and it is something that they will undoubtedly need to address if they are ever to start gaining results and getting back to where they used to be.
Structure doesn’t always refer to the wider team shape though, and there are plenty of smaller things that have gone wrong when it comes to Australia’s, such as how they deal with breakdown situations. In this case, during the Wallabies’ trip to Pretoria during the opening round of the Championship, South Africa have found their way up to the visitors’ try line but have seen their advance ended just short of it, with new Bath prop Thomas du Toit now forced to abandon his own pursuit of the line and to present the ball for a teammate to take hold of.
With it being a ruck and one on the edge of their in-goal area, it would be imagined that Australia would be working hard to get across and to ensure that the Springboks have no easy way through and have to work hard for every blade of grass, but that is not the case and there is no urgency for them to do so, with South Africa instead picking the ball up and long-serving flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit securing an easy five points.
Looking at the setup that Australia had here, it was clear that they had players ready to move forward on either side of the ruck as soon as the ball emerged on the other side of it, but what they were missing was a player in between who would either attempt a jackal or simply prevent du Toit from grounding the ball by stepping over the top.
With that not in place, it was therefore far more simple for the Toyota Verblitz player to secure the try, and that again shows how Australia are lacking a clear idea of what they need to do on the field, and therefore why Jones is receiving so much criticism at this moment in time.
Individual errors
Nevertheless, there are things that are beyond the former England head coach’s control, such as the constant individual errors that his side have made during most of their outings which have been just as much to blame for them being too easy to play against as the year has gone on.
What is really frustrating about the mistakes that the Wallabies have been making is that they are easy things to get right, like not diving in early for tackles and leaving gaps open behind them, as happened here.
In this case, it was Koroibete at fault, with him moving out to try and halt Telea’s advance, but the New Zealand player simply evades his clutches and, in doing so, takes the Saitama Wild Knights player out of the game. At this moment, the All Blacks have a clear 2-v-1 emerging in their favour, with centre Rieko Ioane moving over to join his Blues teammate and ensuring that, once Melbourne Rebels back Kellaway has committed to the tackle, New Zealand have an easy way to score the try.
Koroibete has been one of Australia’s key attacking threats during 2023 and has been a strong and relatively consistent ball-carrier, but defending is not one of his strengths and that was highlighted clearly here and is something that has continued to cause problems for Australia during their time in France too.
The other issue that Australia have had is that there has not been a great deal of communication between players on the field, again leading to confusion in key moments and chances being gifted to their opponents. This was especially prominent during the game against Fiji in Saint-Étienne, when they conceded a very easy try and one that showed the difference in quality between the two teams.
The problem came when the Flying Fijians sent a kick into the air and Wallabies fly-half Carter Gordon moved forward to claim it, leaving his deeper position in order to do so, and he looked certain to claim the ball until the last moment when he pulled out of the move due to winger Mark Nawaqanitawase also jumping and looking as if he would try and gather it instead. The result of that was that neither claimed the ball and it instead bounced between them and into the grateful arms of Racing 92 centre Josua Tuisova, who then ran through to score.
Realistically, Gordon was the one who should have called for and won the ball here, but his inexperience perhaps showed and it is something that has led to criticism in some quarters over the Rebels standoff’s inability to control the flow of the game, as is the role of a fly-half. Jones opted not to call up Hanazono Kintetsu Liners’ Quade Cooper to his tournament squad, which did surprise a number of people, and it proved to be an error in the eyes of many as moments like this showed that they needed an experienced and commanding head in order to take the games by the scruff of the neck.
There is little doubt that Jones’ decisions in that regard will be a big factor in their tournament debrief over the coming weeks, but it should also be remembered that mistakes like this are down to the player, and Gordon clearly has international quality but also a lot to learn still.
Positives
It was mentioned at the beginning of the scout report that there were a lot of issues that Australia will need to look at over the coming weeks and months as they try to fix what has gone so wrong for them, but there are still some positives that they can look to and can build on.
These have mainly come in the attacking side of their game, which has been a lot more fluent than the defensive side of it and which has often demonstrated then, when the team are on the same page, they are a difficult team to contain.
In their opening match of the World Cup against Georgia, for example, they knew that the Lelos would not be the most accurate side with the ball and so they would have chances to break forward, and so it proved as situations like this, when Lyon star Davit Niniashvili threw the ball behind him in a panic as he was tackled, presented themselves as good opportunities to push forward and score points.
In this case, it was Reds prop Taniela Tupou who took hold of the ball and who set up Waratahs back Ben Donaldson to score, and the quality and accuracy of the pass was clear for all to see and demonstrated just how potent the Wallabies can be when they do execute the detail of their play correctly.
The game against Portugal, which was their only other win at the World Cup, was another game in which they showed their quality on the ball, with some good examples of clever passing and good decision-making allowing them to construct some very promising try-scoring opportunities and to put Os Lobos under significant pressure inside their own 22m area.
What is important to note here though is that there are two players involved here who have arguably been the stars of Australia’s attacking play during Jones’ short tenure so far, with Waratahs’ Nawaqanitawase sending the ball over the top of CDUP full-back Nuno Sousa Guedes for flanker Fraser McReight to score the try.
Starting with the former, there is no doubting that he has had a more positive World Cup than most of his teammates, with his pace offering them a constant source of tries and also ensuring that he can get back and help out defensively too, and that last point is really important given what has already been said about Koroibete on the other wing and about Australia’s defending as a whole.
When it comes to McReight, it has all about the way he is second to everything when his team have the ball, whether it be gathering up loose kicks that have evaded his teammates’ clutches or getting over the ball to prevent turnovers once the Wallabies have been forced to ground and a ruck has formed. The Reds player is still only 24 and has only been on the scene for three years, making 17 appearances, but there is little doubting that, on the trajectory that he is currently on, he will be a key name for Australia and will be the type of player that Jones loves to have available to him.
It is not only about the younger talent though, as there is also plenty to like about some of the more experienced members of the squad, which is why there have been so many queries over the decision to leave key names like Cooper and former captain Michael Hooper out of the trip to France this summer.
One player who did make it though was scrum-half Nic White, with the former Exeter Chiefs and current Brumbies player known for his ability to dictate play from the middle and to make split decisions in possession, and that was perhaps how Jones felt he could add more control to the team in matches when they were struggling to implement their game plan.
His quality and experience were shown here through the way that he took the ball from the base of the scrum and instantly shaped as if to pass towards the aforementioned Cooper, before doubling back and taking the ball around the far side of his teammates to score.
His intention here was to create a decoy and to try and remove Argentina centre Jerónimo de la Fuente from the equation, and it worked as the Perpignan player moved towards Cooper and was then unable to stop the try from being scored. Therefore, when looking at why White has been favoured so much by Jones this year, this provides a clear indication of what he offers to the team.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has taken a detailed look at the problems currently facing Australia as they come to terms with their worst ever World Cup result, with a deep focus on both their tactical issues and the individual mistakes that have prevented them from making any serious progress under Jones so far.
However, what has also been made clear is that there are some positives for them to take from their performances this year, with a few individuals standing out and some of their attacking play demonstrating the threat that they pose when they do get things right.
There has been a lot of pressure on Jones to leave his role following the debacle in France, and the reported discussion that he has had over the now-vacant Japan job will not help matters. However, the fact that he signed a five-year deal when he took over in January does indicate that Rugby Australia have faith in him to deliver the turnaround in form that they are looking for.
It will be interesting to keep an eye on the team’s progress if he does stay in charge, with some big matches coming up in the next four years. In 2025, they are due to host the British and Irish Lions, whilst the Webb-Ellis Cup will rock up on their shores in four years’ time. Their fans will hope that both end in success, but there is a lot of hard work that the team will need to get through if they are to give the supporters a reason to smile again.