Why jilted Jones may get a stay of execution

Rugby Australia can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. 

That may be just enough for Eddie Jones to see through his contract with the Wallabies according to James Horwill, who says the head coach isn't the sole source of pain.

Jones is currently signed through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup and is set to lead the Wallabies into a British & Irish Lions campaign before that in 2025.

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In the 24 hours since the Wallabies were steamrolled by Wales and effectively ended their quarter-final hopes, there have been calls for Jones to be sacked.

Eddie Jones, head cach of Australia, prior to the career-defining Rugby World Cup loss to Wales.

Adding fuel to that fire is chatter that the rugby tyrant had a job interview just days out from the Rugby World Cup to be Japan's head coach, calling his commitment to the team into question.

However, Horwill believes there are bigger problems burdening the sport and another new coach isn't the solution despite Jones' wretched run.

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Between the 2019 Rugby World Cup and this year's edition, the Wallabies have had three different coaches – namely Michael Cheika (2014-2019), Dave Rennie (2019-2023) and Jones (2023-).

Cheika's winning split was 50 per cent while Rennie's was just over 36 per cent. Jones, since re-joining the Wallabies, has a 12.5 percent success rate with one win from eight Tests.

"Moving forward, we will need stability," said Horwill on Stan Sport's RWC Central.

James Horwill (left) played 62 Tests for the Wallabies.

"We've had three coaches in the last World Cup cycle, which is three in four years, which is probably too many if you're including Michael Cheika in that time. 

"We can't be continually changing the coach because it obviously hasn't made a difference. We've had five, six coaches in the last 10 or 12 years, and we're still getting similar results. 

"We've got to look at what else we can do and develop the framework of rugby around that. It can go all the way down through to grassroots, but we've got to make sure we look at everything around rugby. 

"Keeping on changing the coach, you're just doing the same but expecting a different result. Ultimately, that hasn't worked, so we've got to look at something different."

Eddie bites at reporters over Japan interrogation

Horwill knows all too well what it's like to work with Jones.

The pair linked up in 2007 when Jones coached the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby

Horwill labelled the rugby stalwart a workaholic, which tallies with Michael Hooper – another former Wallabies captain – and his assessment of the polarising coach.

"It's probably almost to his detriment how hard he works and he cares, you can tell he cares," said Horwill.

"I don't think that should ever be questioned. Whatever happens with Eddie Jones and the situation… we need to make sure whatever situation we get to, for whatever the coach is, whether it's Eddie or someone else, we pick and we stick with it. 

Wales sink knife into Wallabies with final try

"We can't have in two years' time we're going through this whole scenario again like we've been through in this tournament. We need to develop and it's going to take time.

"Tim (Horan) touched on it before, it's going to take time to get through this. Whatever we commit, and whoever makes those decisions, whatever we do, whether it's Eddie, whether it's another coach, I think the ability to stick and build with that and work with them for four years. 

"As I've said, at the moment, we've got to make sure that we maximise our performance over that period of time but especially culminating in that 2027 World Cup."

NEW PODCAST! Michael Atkinson, Sam Worthington and Tom Decent complete a grisly Wallabies post-mortem in Lyon and try to make sense of Eddie Jones threatening to turn Japanese again

https://omny.fm/shows/rugby-world-cup-inside-line/tom-decent-details-exclusive-eddie-jones-story/embed?in_playlist=podcast

The Wallabies are mathematically still in contention to make the quarter-finals, although it is widely accepted Fiji will win at least one clash, if not both, against Portugal and Georgia.

The Wallabies have one more pool match left in the Rugby World Cup against Portugal on October 2 at 2.45am. 

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