Jones’ strong defence as critics circle

ALL in all, it was quite an impressive performance from Eddie Jones yesterday.

The Australian press had just unleashed the latest of its barrages at his so-called "conservative" selection policy but, far from recoiling behind a grumpy, monosyllabic facade, the Wallaby coach instead launched a smooth but decisive defence of his latest first fifteen.

On the plus side for Jones, the only mention of his forwards yesterday in Melbourne was about the upward curve of hooker Brendan Cannon's career. No, the problem the Aussie press corps has with Jones is his choice of backs.

George Gregan and Stephen Larkham and winger Joe Roff are deemed the only untouchables behind the scrum but, after that, no one can seem to agree on who should fill the remaining four jerseys.

What everyone bar Jones seems to agree on, though, is that the centre pairing of Matt Burke and Elton Flatley aren't the attacking whizzes needed to retain Webb Ellis or Bill' as the holders have come to call it. "Sure," they say, "they're more than good enough to beat Ireland, but what then?" Line breaker Stirling Mortlock's exclusion from the 22, never mind the 15, has led to a mini-uproar while there has been a gathering campaign to have Lote Tuqiri replace Wendell Sailor on the wing.

The Wallaby coach was ready for the mudslinging, though, and his reply, a masterpiece of reasoning whether you agreed with him or not, left no one in the Parkview Hotel in the mood to press him further.

"Which criticism?" Jones replied calmly to the initial question on his teamsheet. "There's usually about fifteen, so you tell me which one and I'll respond to it ... Right, so Roff, Sailor and (full-back Matt) Rogers aren't good counter-attackers? Is Rogers not one of the best broken field runners in world rugby? Those three guys are attacking players.You couldn't pick three more attacking players. In terms of the centres, on the surface it might seem that they're defensive players but Burkey is certainly getting to his best. He's running some great lines. Elton Flatley, this season, his running is coming into play. He's certainly not the most attacking of inside centres but when you look at a back line you're looking at the complimentary skills. We've got a running number ten, we've got a running back three and in between that we need to have players who fit the mould of the team."

Jones may still have the worst record of any Wallaby coach in the last 20 years at this point, but he left little doubt yesterday that he is on the verge of settling on his best team after two years of constant tinkering.

"I don't think our selection has been conservative at all," he added. "In fact, I think our selection is geared towards producing the absolute best attacking rugby that we can. When you consider we have two guys like (Matt) Giteau and Tuqiri to come off the bench ... Giteau's one of the most exciting players we've seen.

"Our selection policy has been called conservative but name me one other side that has plucked a guy out of amateur club rugby to play test football. We're seeing the fruits of that now with Giteau. People were saying one year ago why was he playing against England when he'd only played amateur club rugby?" Only last week, Jones was talking about the need for an element of unpredictability in order to win the World Cup and it's a mantra he's sticking to, despite critics' insistence the latest Wallaby team is copying its predecessors of '99 in playing a restricted game designed not to lose rather than to win.

"We're not where we need to be but we're moving in that direction in a positive fashion. At full-back we've got a choice of Rogers or Tuqiri. Both of them are brilliant open field runners. Roff's probably one of the cleverest wingers in the world in terms of being able to work off the ball, so I think we've got guys there who are able to be unpredictable in their play and who are able to take advantage of opportunities."

Of course, any team must respond to the specific challenges thrown up in each and every game. Whether Ireland adopt a similar forward dominated approach to the one they used against Argentina, or whether they decide to play a more expansive style, Jones is ready for either.

"What I think Ireland will do is come out with a very different approach (from the Argentina game)," the coach said. "I'm almost certain about that. I think they'll have something tactically in place in terms of defence. Certainly in terms of attack they'll play a far different game. We're prepared for whatever sort of game they play, whether that's side to side or whether they play their most traditional 'get up' style."

Of further concern to the coach is the trend of refereeing in this tournament which, he claims, has made it more difficult for teams to play attacking football with ball in hand.

"It was disturbing to me to see last weekend the amount of penalties against the attacking side at the breakdown when clearly the tackler wasn't getting off the tackled player. Hopefully, we'll see the IRB come out with some strong directives and make sure the process is right at the tackle."