Wallabies legend Tim Horan has grimly predicted it will take ‘at least two years’ to rebuild Australian rugby following the embarrassing exit in the group stage at the World Cup in France.
It comes as Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan admitted he ‘hasn’t spoken to Eddie Jones’ after he was rumoured to be in recent secret talks to take over as Japan’s head coach.
Australia rugby fans want answers after they were thrashed 40-6 by Wales but Horan, who won two World Cups in 1991 and 1999, stressed the myriad of changes will take time.
‘I hope that we can rebuild this team and give everyone hope in Australia,’ he said in commentary for Stan Sport. ‘I [also] 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.’ Whether Jones is part of the solution leading into the next World Cup on home soil in 2027 remains to be seen. McLennan confirmed RA CEO Phil Waugh had raised the Japan coaching role with Jones, who declared it was merely media speculation.
Jones admitted after the Wales defeat the state of Australian rugby looked like a ‘shambles’ from the outside but was confident he can change things for the better. ‘Sometimes games like this are the making of a good team moving forwards,’ he said.
Jones now needs to ensure Australia beat minnows Portugal on Monday 2.45am AEST and hope Fiji fail to beat the same opponents and Georgia to make the quarters, but that looks highly unlikely. Catch every World Cup match ad-free, live and on-demand in 4K UHD on Stan Sport.
‘I came back to Australian rugby to try and help. ‘[But] at the moment I’m not giving much help, am I? ‘I’m a proud Australian and we’ve got to improve the whole of Australian rugby. ‘I still think I have the ability to turn things around.’
