Eddie, set, go: The burning questions about Jones’ second-coming

The shock return of Eddie Jones as Wallabies coach this week, and the departure of Dave Rennie, has thrown everything up in the air. Old plans have been tossed out the window and nervous players will be wondering if they will go with them, or if they’ll be a central part of the new Eddie Jones regime. There are many questions to be answered in coming months, and these are a handful of key ones.

Will Eddie overhaul Australia’s starting XV?

The million-dollar question for a rattled Wallabies playing group.

Jones will undoubtedly want to make a statement with some changes but expect them to be more surgical than seismic. Unlike the first or second year of a World Cup cycle, there is simply not enough time left to experiment, or start over with a new Wallabies combination. And Jones puts plenty of weight in Test experience, so most regulars will be safe.

But all coaches want to assert control early, so expect Jones to make his personal preferences known, shuffle the deck and take a few scalps. It’s been hard to miss Jones dropping Tate McDermott’s name repeatedly this week, so his battle with Nic White for the No.9 jersey will be one to watch.

Super Rugby form will be telling, and Jones has also said as much. With only five Tests before the World Cup, Jones will want to lean on in-form combinations from Australia’s best-performed side, as Michael Cheika did in 2015 with the Waratahs and Jones did for years with a core of Saracens players. That may help out Noah Lolesio, for example, given his connections with White and Len Ikitau.

Players who’d been on the outer with Rennie will be the most excited. Jones rates James O’Connor, and likes big carriers like Harry Wilson.

The biggest winner could end up being Suliasi Vunivalu, who was a prize rugby league recruit but had just one four-minute Test cameo under Rennie. There are question marks about Vunivalu’s fitness but the Fijian flyer fits a mould that Jones loves: powerful, good in the air and with rugby league pedigree.

Will Quade Cooper be the Wallabies No.10 in 2023?

Not necessarily. After his amazing return to the Wallabies in 2021, Rennie had put all his World Cup eggs in the Quade Cooper basket and was happy to welcome him back when he returned from an Achilles tendon injury midway through the year.

Jones appears less convinced.

He gave Cooper his first start in 2007 at Queensland and the veteran would tick plenty of boxes in Jones’ wish-list for a No.10: mature game-manager, astute kicker and highly experienced.

But asked about his No.10 options on Thursday, Jones mused about Tane Edmed, Ben Donaldson, Bernard Foley, Lolesio and even James O’Connor – but didn’t include Cooper. It may have been a simple oversight but when asked later if he’d forgotten Cooper, Jones said the 34-year-old was of course a candidate and still a quality player.

But Jones also highlighted the restrictions of the three-pick Giteau Law and his need to actually play and earn selection. Overall, it felt a far cooler stance than Rennie.

Who will Eddie Jones name as Wallabies captain?

The two obvious options that jump out are incumbent skipper James Slipper, and the man he stepped up to replace mid-year, Michael Hooper. Hooper’s decision to stand down due to mental health reasons put Slipper in the role, and the no-nonsense Queenslander kept the job even when Hooper returned for the spring tour.

Jones could stick with the status quo, or ask Hooper to return. But there’s also a strong chance he goes left-field and picks a new candidate.

Jones shocked many when he picked Dylan Hartley as England captain in 2016. Hartley was more known for his trips to the judiciary than leadership meetings. But it worked: Hartley set a combative tone and the English won 18 straight Tests.

Jones has flagged doing something similar in Australia, saying different coaches like different captains. He wants a captain who he gels with, and can “galvanise” the team quickly. He’ll find Slipper and Hooper are both highly respected by their peers, but if he’s determined to look for a new man, hard-edged Brumbies like White and Allan Alaalatoa would be the other natural leaders he’ll find in the squad.

How will Jones’ approach to the media be different from Rennie?

As a week of headlines – and a return to the nightly TV news – has shown, Jones and Rennie are chalk-and-cheese when it comes to media performance.

There’s a bit of Wayne Bennett in Jones. Both pretend like they suffer through media interviews, but secretly they love it. Jones likes to set the agenda and believes what’s being written in the media during a Test week can have an influence on his team and the result. In his biography, Jones admitted he works up targeted strategies with his long-time media advisor David Pembroke.

Rennie was the opposite. Occasionally, he’d put a referee on notice but as far as mind games or stirring the pot before a match, Rennie was often too focused on the task at hand. You can count on one hand the number of times Rennie lost his cool at a post-match press conference, or lobbed a grenade pre-game.

In Jones, the Wallabies have a combative coach with a sharp tongue who understands the value of getting rugby on the back page of the paper. If that involves picking a faux fight with Peter V’Landys, or the All Blacks coach or his former bosses at the RFU, then ring the bell. It’ll happen.

Will Jones’ return help Australia win back the Bledisloe Cup?

If you believe in omens, it may pay to put a few dollars on the Wallabies ending their Bledisloe Cup drought this year.

After more than two decades of trans-Tasman heartache, the quickest way for Jones to swing public opinion would be to help the Wallabies bring back the Bledisloe Cup.

History shows the Wallabies are good for a big performance in World Cup years against the Kiwis. Australia beat New Zealand at least once in 2019, 2015, 2011, 2007, 2003 and 1999.

Australia need to win both matches this year. The first is in Melbourne on July 29, before a second clash on August 5 across the ditch. Usually, that means the dreaded Eden Park, but not this year. The FIFA World Cup has booked the ground, so this year it is in Dunedin.

Who was in charge when Australia won their last Test on Kiwi soil in 2001, in Dunedin? Eddie Jones.

Who coached the Wallabies to their last Bledisloe Cup victory in 2002? Eddie Jones.

Will Jones radically change Australia’s playing style?

Jones built success with England on a simple, defensive game style, so will the Wallabies now follow suit?

It’s unlikely, but don’t expect Jones to revert Australia’s game plan back to the same run-at-all-costs style under Michael Cheika either. Nor will the Wallabies revert to the very structured game that Jones used 18 years ago.

Instead, Jones has spoken about working up a simple and consistent style suited to Australia’s strengths – being athletic, skilful and tough. But he will also look to restore Australia’s competitive advantage of being a smart team. Games are so close these days that only handfuls of opportunities present themselves, and bold creativity can be decisive. Deceptive tap plays from five metres out are a developing new frontier, for example.

There will be the usual non-negotiables around set-piece and defence, and expect Australia’s discipline to improve under Jones. It will have to. It was horrible during Rennie’s last year in charge, with 15 cards in 14 Tests and an average penalty count nearer to 15 than the normal 10. Watch for Jones’ infamous standards at training to take effect here.

What brave souls will join Eddie’s coaching staff?

Jones is a persuasive person who would love to get Scott Wisemantel back in the Wallabies setup as attack coach. The pair had a great working relationship at England. However, Wisemantel appears unlikely to come back due to family reasons.

Waratahs great Chris Whittaker’s name has been thrown up as a possible solution. We’re yet to hear from forwards coach Dan McKellar on the news of Jones’ appointment. McKellar’s excellent work ethic and grounding at the Brumbies is likely to appeal to Jones.

Defence coach Laurie Fisher has a long-standing relationship with Jones. It was Jones who asked Fisher to coach the Brumbies’ second team in 1999. From there, Fisher progressed to Brumbies head coach in 2005.

Where that leaves scrum coach Petrus du Plessis is unclear. Jones doesn’t have enough time to totally revamp his assistants but you can guarantee the coaching structure will look much different in 2024.

How serious is Eddie about raiding league?

It’s important to note that Jones and chairman Hamish McLennan aren’t planning a full-blown assault on the NRL. Before the 2003 World Cup, Jones signed Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers from league. It’s often forgotten that Tuqiri and Rogers had a background in rugby, and any recruits in Eddie’s second era would be in the same boat.

There are many players in the NRL who played rugby and league as a teenager, and they are the focus. Not Tom Trbojevic or James Tedesco. Firstly keeping the players in the first place, and also recapturing players like Joseph Suaalii and Tolu Koula.

Jones’ first league recruits may come in the coaches box. He loves rugby league and had a procession of NRL coaching types with him in England: Jason Ryles, Anthony Seibold and Brett Hodgson.

Jones even invited Ricky Stuart to his camp at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, in the week he played Australia in the quarter-finals.

Eight years later, in 2027, what are the odds Stuart – a former Wallaby – is alongside Eddie Jones in the Wallabies box for another World Cup final on home soil? He’s off contract in 2026.

On the evidence this week, it’s best to never rule anything out.

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