MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Wallabies coach Eddie Jones insists he and his players can “turn it around” before this year’s World Cup and after a 38-7 loss to the All Blacks in front of 83,000 fans in Melbourne on Saturday.
The All Blacks’ win meant they secured the Bledisloe Cup for the 21st straight year and that Australia finished without a win in this season’s shortened Rugby Championship.
Jones remains adamant the Wallabies still can be a force at the World Cup in France in September and October.
“We apologize to all the fans and it’s not good enough but that’s my fault,” Jones said. “That’s my responsibility and I’ll take it on the chin.
“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 bloody good team. It doesn’t look like it at the moment but I’m telling you we can.”
Jones’ comments might seem laughable after a six tries to one defeat but the Wallabies did look good in patches on Saturday. They led 7-5 after 30 minutes and also started the second half strongly, spending most of the third quarter close the All Blacks line before New Zealand broke out to score three late tries.
Yellow cards in both halves proved costly and the loss of captain Allan Alaalatoa to a serious injury was a major blow to a young Wallabies team.
Jones confirmed Alaalatoa, who was carried from the field on a stretcher Saturday, had suffered an Achilles tendon injury and would miss the World Cup.
Against that dark background, Jones saw pinpoints of light. The Wallabies had the All Blacks under severe pressure at times.
“You’ve got to be able to do that for 80 minutes and when you put teams under pressure you’ve got to be able to convert that into points and we’re not good enough to do that at the moment,” he said. “My experience is that when you’re trying to play a different way you can do it for periods of time and then you can’t as it’s not automatic enough.”
Jones said the Wallabies had lost to the All Blacks by larger margins in a World Cup year and gone on to succeed at the world tournament — he cited 2003 when Australia lost 50-21 to New Zealand in a Bledisloe Cup match and later ousted the All Blacks in the World Cup semifinals.
“I saw enough to make me believe that we can (turn it around) but there’s a lot of hard work to do,” Jones said. “Transforming a team from where they are now to a team that’s capable of beating New Zealand takes a lot of hard work and the clock’s ticking but we’ve still got time.”
The All Blacks and Wallabies meet in the second Bledisloe Cup test in Dunedin, New Zealand on Saturday.
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