Former Aussie coach calls for sweeping changes

Former Australia coach Bob Dwyer today urged Eddie Jones to axe captain George Gregan and make six changes for next week’s quarter-final against Scotland – or face surrendering the World Cup without a fight.

Dwyer led the Wallabies to glory in 1991 but watched on in horror as Ireland stretched Australia, tested them in the line-out and came within a point of victory in Melbourne.

“After what I witnessed last night, we cannot win the World Cup with the team we have and, if we don’t make urgent changes, we’ll simply be handing over the Webb Ellis Cup,” said Dwyer.

“I don’t want to meekly hand the World Cup over. I want us to go down fighting if we are going to go down at all.

“Last night was a poor performance by a team that should have stood up when the occasion demanded.”

Dwyer’s suggestions are radical, with Gregan and big-name, big-money stars like Wendell Sailor, Stephen Larkham and David Giffin also under intense scrutiny.

“George Gregan played much more behind the forward pack last night but he still takes a little skip and a backswing. I feel we would get much more precise ball to the fly-half and outside backs if Chris Whitaker played,” Dwyer wrote in his syndicated News Limited column.

Dwyer, NSW Waratahs coach until this year when he took on a developmental role with the union, would link Whitaker with utility back Matt Giteau ahead of regular fly-half Larkham and name Morgan Turinui at inside centre in place of Elton Flatley.

On the wing, Dwyer stressed that while Joe Roff had a “very poor game” it was Sailor who ought to get the boot with Lote Tuqiri the obvious option.

“If Lote Tuqiri isn’t a better bet than Wendell Sailor in the team, I’m a very bad judge,” he said.

Jones conceded Sailor had had a mixed game, laying the platform for George Smith’s try but allowing too much space for Brian O’Driscoll to cancel it out in the second half.

Giffin, lock and vice-captain, is not regarded as Australia’ most potent line-out force and Ireland exploited the Wallabies’ weakness there, winning five against the throw.

Jones admitted today: “Ireland managed to control the line-out from about the 55th minute to the 75th minute and that put us under enormous pressure.

“The crucial thing for us from this game is to improve the line-out.”

Dwyer would dump Giffin entirely from the 22, bringing Daniel Vickerman into the starting line-up and Justin Harrison onto the bench.

His final change would be to return prop Al Baxter to the starting XV in place of the more experienced Ben Darwin.

The cynical onlooker will note that all bar one of Dwyer’s suggestions include bringing a NSW Waratahs player into the side.

The only one that is not is Giteau, and the Waratahs tried to sign the lively 21-year-old from the ACT Brumbies before the World Cup.

But Dwyer stressed: “The time has come to take some risks and prepare to fight, as opposed to going down without as much as a whimper.”

However Jones flatly rejected the possibility of experimenting in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

“It’s a quarter-final, quarter-finals are knockouts. We will pick our best 22. Any side like Scotland you’ve got to respect very highly and that’s what we’ll be doing on Saturday,” he said.

One change which may be forced on Jones is at outside centre, with Matt Burke still an injury doubt after hobbling off with bruising to the patella tendon in his right knee.

The MRI scan he underwent today cleared the Waratahs star of any serious damage, but Stirling Mortlock will come into the frame for a possible recall against the Scots.

“We just have to assess that over the next couple of days,” said Jones.