No compromise as Jones holds his course

AUSTRALIAN coach Eddie Jones is determined to brazen out the criticism and follow his own instincts as he bids to halt a depressing run of international defeats at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.

Jones has selected two rookie props to face Ireland and insisted: “I believe in what I’m doing; we have had our problems with injuries, we’ve had a run of defeats, but I’m still confident we can get to where we want to be.”

Helping him get there is Alan Gaffney, who can provide microscopic details on the Irish, but he shied away from the front-line as Jones named his starting XV yesterday.

“I’m just part of a team, I have made my input but Eddie is the coach,” said Gaffney. “I can offer certain information about a number of Irish players, but you never know what’s going to happen on the day.”

The front row mauling Australia suffered at Twickenham last Saturday clearly influenced Jones’ selection as much as tomorrow’s opposition. Al Baxter, who suffered against Andrew Sheridan, has been dropped, and replaced by debutant David Fitter. Matt Dunning is injured, so Greg Holmes, another Test rookie, comes in.

Jones admitted Australia would have to take stock of northern hemisphere scrum trends. New Zealand were forewarned by the Lions tour this summer, and there is no doubt that South Africa always put heavy emphasis on scrummaging.

Jones remarked: “There is no doubt that we have to get our set pieces right. We had problems in Twickenham but that’s not to say we will have them in Dublin.

“All of our props have been through the hoop at various levels and that’s all part of the learning process. When we have days like we had last week against England, the big thing is to get back on the horse. I’m sure Ireland feel the same after the match with New Zealand. The recovery started on Monday with a heavy scrum session and we’re looking forward to see what happens in that area on Saturday.”

Jones expects fireworks from Ireland, saying they didn’t appear to perform at all against the All Blacks.

“I think Ireland were caught on the hop in their first game of the season and, surprisingly, they didn’t appear to play in their usual confrontational manner. It will be different this time out and we will have to be ready to cope with that when it comes, as it surely will.”

Jones is under severe pressure to keep his job but admitted the pressure comes with the territory.

“When you’re successful, everything is ok. We have gone through a bad patch but you can’t look back at the game that’s gone. We have a job to do and that’s to make sure we get these guys back on a winning track. This is going to be a difficult game, there is no doubt, but we’re here to win. It will be a major boost to come out of Dublin with a positive result.”

Much has been made of the possible influence of Gaffney, who worked as coach with Leinster and Munster, but he played down his role yesterday.

“I know a lot of the players, but the national side play differently from both the provinces I worked with. So I’m not sure what help I can be in that situation. I have been out of the country for a few months now, and everything can change in that time. We have to get our process right and we can only see what happens from there.”

Jones’s major worry is that Australia have not been scoring enough points.

“We have been involved in a number of closely fought matches over the last few months but have not been putting our chances away. It’s something we have spoken about, tried to address but nothing seems to be happening.

“Hopefully, we will get things right and I have no doubt about the ability of a number of individuals, and the team in general, to score the points. Right now, it’s a question of getting the breaks, and I think we can build on that if it happens.”

Jones has made changes on the bench. Matt Giteau’s knee injury has allowed Wendell Sailor to return while Chris Whitaker has made way for Matt Henjak at reserve scrum-half.

“Chris Whitaker has done extremely well on tour and it was a tough call to make, but we feel it’s time to give Henjak an opportunity. He has worked very hard, both on and off the field, and thoroughly deserves his chance on Saturday.”