Analysis: He's back baby!
Yes. Returning Wallabies coach Eddie Jones was at his finest today in Melbourne; needling, prodding, defiant — Australian to a tee.
You have to hand it to Jones, who at times is the man with the thickest rugby skin on the globe.
He reminded me today of the infamous scene in Monty Python's Holy Grail — the one where the hapless knight, missing limbs, still wants to take on all-comers in the face of impossible odds. Jones was that and more in his Melbourne hotel today.
It was freezing outside and even colder inside, before Jones went off on his ocker tangents.
From New Zealand Rugby arrogance, to reporters again being likened to keyboard warriors, to suggesting New Zealand will slip into the sea should the Wallabies score a shock win on Saturday night.
He then went on to mention our flagging economy and the possibility we'll sink even further into the financial mire if the Wallabies win!
Jones personifies Australian optimism and bravado and you have to love him for giving us all a tickle up.
Will it help the Wallabies win? Probably not, but you get the sense they won't go down without a big fight.
They've picked a relatively young starting team, a move that could backfire or work a miracle.
But, importantly, it's a young XV with no All Blacks baggage. They're young players who stood out in Super Rugby by taking it to New Zealand teams.
On the other side of the coin though, they are also young players with very little experience in front of 80,000 and in front of an All Blacks team on song.
The Wallabies players in general say they love Eddie Jones for helping them break bad habits. They've previously been too hard on themselves when they've made mistakes. They want to play with a new positive attitude.
Jones is just the man for that and hey, even if the Wallabies get thumped or go down in an ultra tight battle like last year, at least the little Aussie battler had some fun and gave all us Kiwis something to smile about before the MCG showdown.
And you need to have respect for an international sports coach that can take some needle, give it back and then shake your hand at the end of it all, which Eddie Jones was quick to do today.
Eddie's back — let's just hope he's around for a while!
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