Former Wallaby Tim Horan has declared it's going to take "two to four years" for the side to rebuild after a shock 40-6 loss to Wales.
The heavy defeat now means it's near impossible for Australia to move past the group stage in the 2023 World Cup, as many ponder where to next for the Wallabies?
Eddie Jones' return to the head coach role in January after the ruthless sacking of Dave Rennie was seen as a step forward for Rugby Australia but as reports emerge Jones interviewed for the Japan role in the days before the World Cup, the 63-year-old's job seems to be on shaky ground.
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Horan hopes that's not the case as he focused on how the Australian rugby landscape will need to change over the coming years.
"Eddie Jones, where does he go from here?," he said on Stan Sport's RWC Central.
"Lot of talk today pre-match about Eddie Jones, has he had a discussion with Japanese Rugby? Is that the case? I hope it's not. I hope for the fan's sake it's not, I hope that we can rebuild this team and give everyone hope in Australia. That won't happen in the first six or 12 months next year but give people hope for the (women's) 2025 World Cup and the 2027 home Rugby World Cup.
"Retention of coaches is really important, I think we need to expand our player base. This might take us longer than two to four years to regroup, to get the Wallabies DNA back, hopefully it can come back in the next 12 months. I think it's going to take a little bit longer and it's going to be a big review in the next six months of this Wallabies team."
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Following the humiliating loss to Wales, Jones defended his commitment to the job after being constantly asked about whether he'll be in the job next year.
"I take umbrage at the questioning (and) people questioning my commitment to coaching Australia," he said.
"I have been working non-stop since I came here and I apologise for the result. I keep saying that but to question my commitment to the job is a bit red-hot."
Former Wallabies captain James Horwill backed up Jones' comments around his dedication to the job.
"He is a workaholic, I worked with him in 2007, it's probably almost to his detriment how hard he works, he cares, you can tell he cares, so I don't think that should ever be questioned with Eddie," he said.
"I think whatever happens with the Eddie Jones situation … we need to make sure that whatever situation we get to, whoever the coach is, whether it's Eddie or someone else, we pick and stick with them.
"We can't have in two years time, be going through this whole scenario again like we did with this tournament, the Irish and British Lions before this one, we need to develop and it's going to take time."
Since Jones last coached the team in 2005, the Wallabies have turned over five coaches with John Connolly, Robbie Deans, Ewen McKenzie, Michael Cheika and Rennie all featuring in the role before his return.
Horwill believes it's time to be consistent.
"I think moving forward we will need stability, we've had three coaches in the last World Cup cycle … if you include Michael Cheika in that time, we can't continually keep changing the coach because obviously it hasn't made a difference," he said.
"We've had five or six coaches in the last 10 or 12 years, and are still getting similar results. We've got to look at what else we can do and develop the framework of rugby around that."
One of Jones' most contentious decisions in the lead up to the World Cup was to axe Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper from the squad.
The decision around Hooper has caused significant angst within the Wallabies supporter base and Horwill agreed with the majority of people that believe he should've been in France.
"I'm of the belief that Hoops should've been part of that squad, whether he was the best choice No.7 … he would've been a valuable asset around that group, we've seen his experience, his leadership and just his calming influence around (the squad)," he said.
"I think the pressure got the better of us the last two weeks, it looked like the players felt this responsibility that they had to deliver and they just felt constrained a bit.
"I'm expecting against Portugal, the shackles are off now, and they'll just go out and blast them off the park just because there's not that expectation of we have to win … it's more about how can we push through.
"I think a guy like Hoops would've been a great asset for (them) there … he's got 125 caps, a guy that would just be that calming influence that guys can turn to and say 'what do we do?'."
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