Eddie Jones has Ryan Lonergan, Josh Flook on edge
4 min read
There was a primary day in school nervousness among the many Wallabies on Monday because the Eddie Jones period started in earnest at a coaching camp on the Gold Coast.
Brumbies halfback Ryan Lonergan and Reds centre Josh Flook had morning media duties after present process medicals and earlier than they’d truly met the legendary coach.
Flook – tagged as Australia’s Conrad Smith clone – had by no means spoken to Jones earlier than the three day camp, whereas Lonergan’s solely interplay was a fast chat at a trial recreation in Wagga Wagga.
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However each uncapped gamers rightly had their guards up given Jones’ arduous nosed status and nicely documented love of thoughts video games and curve balls.
“Yeah, I would say there is a totally different feeling,” mentioned Lonergan, picked with Brumbies teammate Nic White as considered one of solely two halfbacks within the squad.
“There’s in all probability a little bit of angst getting round. We do not actually know what to anticipate but, however it’s very early. I have never truly seen him but…
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“I imply, you might be as prepared as you’ll be able to however we do not actually know what’s coming. So I assume we’ll see what occurs, simply open my thoughts and count on something actually…
“Yeah, it’s fairly nerve racking… so I am nonetheless nervous however you have to try to get the appropriate first impression there.”
Jones was pressured to make seven adjustments to his squad after the weekend’s video games.
Flook, 21, has the benefit of additionally having the ability to cowl wing and did not draw back from the comparisons to two-time Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks centre Smith – recognized for his accuracy and maturity in each assault and defence.
“It was very cool to have the ability to put my identify subsequent to his, in an analogous participant,” Flook mentioned.
“However no, rising up I type of moved all through the backline so I watched a little bit of everybody. Began as a ten, like I feel all of us do however moved to 13 again in grade 10.
“So ever since then, I’ve undoubtedly tried to commit, develop my recreation round him as a result of he is probably the greatest on the planet to do it.
“So it is fairly cool that my identify has been linked to him.”
The Wallabies open their 2023 marketing campaign in opposition to the world champion Springboks on July 9 (AEST) in Pretoria.
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Jones defined what he hoped to realize at his first camp, whereas mentioning the staff’s poor document below predecessor Dave Rennie.
“It is like this honeymoon interval the place everybody’s feeling good in regards to the staff, so very enthusiastic,” Jones mentioned on his podcast Eddie.
“But in addition cognisant of the truth that we have a good bit of labor to do to go from a staff that is successful at 38 per cent.
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“To win the World Cup you have to win at 100 per cent. So 62 per cent is an enormous hole. Tremendous Rugby performances have not been on the stage we’d count on and, due to this fact, we have numerous work to do which is daunting but in addition thrilling.
“So a number of totally different feelings… you stroll in, first day, you’ve got bought some concepts with what you wish to do, concepts about the way you wish to play, concepts of the way you wish to function off the sphere, however on the finish of the day you have to do some work with them and discover out the place you’ll be able to go…
“Speaking about this camp, this is among the central themes – ‘how are you going to discover a bit extra in your self’?”
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