Here are your rugby morning headlines for Sunday July 30.
Eddie under fire as World Cup looms
New Australia boss Eddie Jones is under fire just two months out from the Wallabies’ World Cup showdown with Wales.
Jones went down to a third defeat in three since taking over as Australia head coach when his side crashed 38-7 at home to arch-rivals New Zealand in Melbourne.
It leaves Australia likely to head to the World Cup as bottom side in the Rugby Championship following earlier losses to South Africa and Argentina.
Their woeful run of form also gives Wales hope of topping a pool that also contains Fiji, Georgia and Portugal, with a likely quarter-final showdown with Argentina or England at stake.
Former England fly-half Andy Goode responded to Australia’s most recent defeat down under by tweeting: “Eddie Jones has taken the Wallabies backwards quicker than I used to run to the buffet! Whoever sacked Dave Rennie at Australian Rugby needs sacking for being inept at their job!”
Ben Darwin, a former Wallabies prop, said: “It feels like Eddie Jones is the bride trying to organise a wedding in the car on the way to the wedding.”
And ex-Wallabies coach John Connolly wasn’t holding back as he tore into Jones by blasting: “How did we end up with Eddie again? He is full of it. He talks a great game but plays a terrible one.”
Jones insists he’ll turn it around
Eddie Jones insists he will defy the critics and turn around Australia’s fortunes before they head to the World Cup.
The veteran coach apologised for the NZ hammering and urged fans to stick with the team as they prepare for the global showpiece which kicks off in France in September.
“We apologise to the fans and it’s not good enough, but that’s my fault. That’s my responsibility and I will take it on the chin,” said Jones.
“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 good team – it doesn’t look like it at the moment but I’m telling you we can.”
Real Madrid future stars join Wales
Wales will give a World Cup update today as they hold a Press conference from their Turkish training base.
Warren Gatland’s stars have been training in the hottest conditions they have experienced, with temperatures reaching 42 degrees, and have needed ice lollies and to be squirted with water to keep cool.
It has been revealed Real Madrid’s Academy are also at the same training HQ in Antalya, with Dan Biggar joking in his Mail column that the Bernabeu youngsters “turned up in business class and we felt a little envious after our EasyJet flight was stuck on the runway at Bristol for three hours!”
Wales return this week to begin preparations back home for the World Cup warm-up opener with England in Cardiff on Saturday. That is followed by a game against the Red Rose at Twickenham, then a Principality Stadium clash with South Africa.
England handed Pumas warning
England have been handed a World Cup warning of their own after group opponents Argentina pushed South Africa to the brink in Johannesburg.
The Pumas were only denied an historic win by missed penalty attempts and a breakaway try against the run of play.
Steve Borthwick’s Red Rose meet Argentina first up in Marseille in what is expected to be the defining game of their group. The winners will meet whoever finishes runners-up in Wales’ group.
The Telegraph wrote in their report of the Rugby Championship thriller: “A defeat for Argentina but a stunning performance against the Springboks at Ellis Park that will have raised significant alarm within the England camp.
“Borthwick and his coaching team will have taken note of Argentina’s capacity and ferocious ambition to take on the Springboks at their own strengths. England have been warned.”
Townsend joy at Scot debutant
Gregor Townsend heaped plaudits on Ben Healy after the stand-off marked his first start for Scotland by staking a strong claim for a place in the World Cup squad.
The 24-year-old – handed the number 10 jersey in a much-changed team – kicked 10 points and was involved in two of the Scots’ three tries as they defeated Italy 25-13 in the first of four warm-up matches for the showpiece in France in the autumn.
Healy, who made his international debut as a substitute at home to the Azzurri in the last game of the Six Nations in March, is widely deemed to be vying with fellow fly-half Adam Hastings for a spot in Townsend’s 33-man squad, which will be named in mid-August.
“I thought he was excellent,” the head coach said of the fly-half who has moved from Munster to Edinburgh this summer. “To play at 10 you need to have a confident temperament, you need to be calm when things aren’t going well for you, and he showed those.
“His kicking was outstanding. Those spiral kicks, you could sense the crowd thinking, ‘ooft, we don’t often see this’.”
