Wallabies battling to avoid early exit

EIGHT years ago, England failed to qualify for the World Cup knock-out stage for the first time after losing to Australia at Twickenham. It led to the appointment of Eddie Jones as head coach and tonight he will suffer the same ignominy if his Wallabies lose to Wales in Lyon.

-  PAUL REES

Even victory might not be enough to save Australia who need to win with a bonus point and by more than seven points to leave them in control of their own destiny. The prospect of three teams finishing on 16 points is possible, but the Wallabies will need to dig deep to overcome a team they used to have a hex over.

It has been a miserable year for Jones for whom little has gone right since England won the series against Australia in the summer of 2012. He has been involved in 11 Tests since then and overseen two victories, against Japan last November and Georgia this month. He has tried to retain his ebullience, but his decision to jettison experience for youthful exuberance has backfired and injuries to key players have left his side on the brink.

“If we do not win, crisis will turn into unmitigated disaster and we will see something close to the collapse of faith in Rugby Australia, its administration, coaches and players,” said the former Wallabies’ wing David Campese. “That will be a pretty sad day for the sport. To say the pressure is on them is the understatement of the year.”

Other former internationals have weighed in to question why Dave Rennie was sacked 10 months ago after narrow away defeats to France and Ireland, although the European tour included a first loss to Italy, and Jones is battling to remain in charge of the hosts of the 2027 World Cup. He needs a victory like never before.

He chose one specialist outside-half in his squad, Carter Gordon, but the 22-year-old, who won his first cap against South Africa less than three months ago, has been dropped to the bench for the visit of Wales having been hooked 10 minutes into the second-half against Fiji last weekend moments after his mistake led to the islanders’ try.