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Saint-Etienne: After two-and-a-half days of soul-searching, the Wallabies hauled themselves out of a self-inflicted hole on Wednesday and resumed scheduled media commitments in France.
Fullback Andrew Kellaway, five-eighth Ben Donaldson and assistant coach Dan Palmer sat together at a press conference in front of a smaller group of reporters than they had become used to over the past fortnight.
Normally, World Cup postmortems take shape after the tournament ends, where officials promise that independent reviews will shine a light on every area possible to ensure there is no repeat of whatever poor performances have taken place.
Since the first World Cup in 1987, Australian rugby has never had a brighter light shone on it than after the Wallabies’ 40-6 loss to Wales, a week after the side’s first defeat to Fiji in 69 years.
However, the tournament is not over. World Rugby hasn’t booked the Wallabies on a flight back to Australia yet.
There is one game remaining against Portugal on Sunday (Monday 1.45am AEDT) that needs Australia’s 100 per cent attention, given how much the wider rugby fraternity is hurting after a World Cup implosion.
Rob Valetini and the Wallabies digest the record loss to Wales.Credit: AP
Australia will select their best team and try crush Portugal, ranked 16th in the world, with a bonus point win firmly in mind.
“If we spend too much time dwelling on that [Wales loss] and spending time in that shock and awe kind of phase, we’ll miss the jump and we’ll be chasing our arse on Sunday,” Kellaway aid.
The Wallabies, however, may know before they take the field in Saint-Etienne whether their World Cup dream is mathematically over.
If Fiji beat Georgia on Saturday and score four tries, they will register a bonus point win that kills Australia’s chances of finishing any higher than third in Pool C.
Andrew Kellaway at Wallabies training this week ahead of the side’s match against Portugal. Credit: Getty
If that does not happen, the team could face the unwanted prospect of having to stay in France for an extra seven days, with no game on that weekend, to wait for Fiji to beat Portugal and advance to the last eight.
Players have handled their disappointment in different ways. Some have family on hand to support them. Rewatching the Lyon nightmare was optional.
“I watched the whole game. Incredibly depressing,” Kellaway said.
“Nobody goes out there and tries to lose or tries to play badly and I think we often forget that with a performance like that. We’re the first people to stick our hand up and say it was embarrassing but no one tried to do that. For us, it’s about making sure we understand why that occurred.”
Careers are on the line and, in a turbulent time for Australian rugby, there is little clarity about anything.
“It probably sounds like it’s a cliche – and a bit stupid – but it might be my last game, you never know,” Kellaway said.
With the Australians still trying to digest the magnitude of their worst-ever World Cup defeat, former Wallaby Stephen Hoiles spoke afterwards on the Stan Sport coverage about the impact that such a loss can have on the career of young players.
“Sadly, they might not get better,” Hoiles said. “I lost a quarter-final. That’s all I’m carrying. I’m scarred from losing a quarter-final. I was 26. I thought I’d get another crack. I didn’t.”
Eight of Australia’s starting XV from the Wales Test were 25 years old or younger. Could there be similar – or worse – scars in years to come? No.10 Ben Donaldson doesn’t think so.
“There was a lot of emotion and a lot of boys shedding a tear because we were gutted,” Donaldson said. “Losing with that scoreline in a World Cup, it’s obviously very devastating, but that’s just going to drive us to work harder and be better. One hundred per cent we can get over it.”
Overseeing these final days in France is Eddie Jones, during a time when his position is up in the air.
Jones, who has not told RA officials about his meeting with Japan officials before the tournament, as revealed by this masthead, isn’t letting the outside noise get to him.
“We’ve all been affected by it and we all show it differently but Eddie has been outstanding,” Palmer said.
“We can’t question his commitment to this group. He works longer hours than anybody and puts more into this than anybody, so I’m sure he’s feeling it.
“We’ve still got a pulse in this competition. We’re selecting and preparing to win this game. We need five points.”
Watch all the action from Rugby World Cup 2023 on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Every match streaming ad-free, live and in 4K UHD with replays, mini matches and highlights available on demand.
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