Australia’s Rugby World Cup campaign got off to a rather inauspicious start today.
Departing for France, the Wallabies were met by the usual media scrum, which head coach Eddie Jones took as an opportunity to let rip at several Australian Rugby journalists.
WATCH EDDIE JONES BLAST AUSTRALIAN MEDIA
Whilst Jones has notoriously always had a tumultuous relationship, the experienced coach has a strong record at Rugby World Cups and will once again be looking to prove naysayers wrong.
Yet, for Jones, whilst the clash with the media was a flash in the pan, a bigger concern will be the loss of his attack coach Brad Davis with immediate effect.
Having joined the Wallabies in May, Davis’s departure for “personal reasons” has come as a major shock ahead of the tournament.
Discussing the matter, Jones said, “We had a discussion a couple of nights ago.
“There’s a potential candidate ready to step up now. As I said, I think we’ll improve the coaching staff.”
Jones was asked to confirm if it was Davis’ decision to stand aside. “Yeah, we had a discussion, yeah,” Jones responded.
Based on reporting in Australia, Davis is likely to join new Queensland Reds head coach Less Kiss’s staff ahead of next season’s Super Rugby campaign.
Davis’s departure was further confirmed by a Rugby Australia representative who said, “confirming Brad Davis won’t be with us to the World Cup. It’s all happened pretty quickly but he has some personal matters he needs to attend to in the UK.”
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