Eddie on getting caught with his plans, MCG as the best rugby ground in the world and needing more redheads

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones downplayed the importance of the team rosters he scribbled on a legal pad during the Super Round.

Jones was snapped by a punter in the crowd writing team rosters on a legal pad during a game at AAMI Park on Sunday. The fan posted the picture on Twitter, although it was later deleted.

“I always make a choice. There will be 45 drafts in that selection,” Jones said on his weekly podcast Eddie on Friday.

“I don’t know what was up on Twitter, but by the time I was done I was on Draft 4. It’s pretty trivial. But nowadays you can’t trust anyone. Sometimes I’m too trusting. I just sat out there with the punters because I like to sit out with them.

“I was watching a game in between and it didn’t really grab me, so I decided to do something useful and just wrote down a few names. Since this draft was written, I’ve made three or four more drafts.

“If we get assistant coaches and build the coaching staff, we will build that squad. Well done to this fan, they should get a wrap. I’m sure they’re popular on Twitter for their 19 seconds of fame.”

Jones was speaking from St. Etienne while on a reconnaissance tour of the Wallabies’ World Cup base in France. The Australian coach, who sounded slightly afflicted with jetlag (or Kronenbourg), was in fine form as he blasted the Victorian Government for a mishap during the Super Round and poked fun at Ed Sheeran.

He also reflected on the impact of the legislative changes during the first two rounds of Super Rugby.

“We’ve got fatigue back in the game, that’s the big deal,” Jones said. “Ball in play hasn’t changed much – it’s still around 34-35 minutes, but what we’re seeing is ball in play has gone down significantly – up to around 17 per cent, which means now phases of the Work is followed by shorter periods of rest.

“Because we’re getting that, we get tired in the game, which opens up the game and probably favors attacks a bit.

“Referees have a really hard time with the jackler putting his hands past the ball and I think they really need to keep doing that. In fact, if you let the jackler’s hands past the ball, he’ll be in a very low position at first, and then to clear that player, head contact is hard to avoid.

“If we can keep the jackler higher, keep the work rates the same, can make the recovery shorter as it’s progressed, we’re going to put the fatigue back into play and if we do that we’ll get a little bit more space and a little bit more space, a little more ball movement, which is all very positive.

“The quality of Super Rugby in the first two rounds was pretty good and certainly more entertaining from a player’s point of view and people will want to see that kind of rugby.”

Jones was a busy man in Melbourne who set up a clinic for 60 buses — where his arrival was delayed by road works (“I’ve got to speak to the Victorian Government, mate. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get to the Intercontinental down to AAMI Stadium. All roads are single lane. I don’t know if this government will step in in the next elections!”) – and meetings with business leaders.

His podcast co-host David Pembroke expressed surprise to hear Melbourne was pushing to host the 2027 World Cup final, allowing Jones to chat about Ed Sheeran – the singer who performed last weekend’s Super Round Attracting 215,000 fans to two nights at MCG fought for support on the street.

“That didn’t surprise me because they have the best rugby ground in the world – the only rugby ground where the opponent has an advantage over New Zealand. That’s a pretty good rugby ground.

“They can fit 110,000 players there – because this Ed Sheeran, what about his average attendance? He averages 100.00 – all he has to do is show up and he gets 100,000. We may need a few more redheads on the wallaby side and we may have a shot at getting over 100,000.”