Sydney (AFP) – Maligned Australia coach Eddie Jones has defended his shock decision to axe Michael Hooper from the Wallabies disastrous World Cup campaign, saying the veteran flanker was "not the right role model".
Hooper, Australia's most-capped skipper, having led the side in 69 of his 125 Tests, was a glaring omission from the squad in France along with Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley.
Jones instead packed his squad with a band of unproven rookies and Australia were bundled out in pool play for the first time ever. Jones insisted it was the right decision, saying Hooper, Cooper and Foley were no longer "obsessed with winning".
"For those guys, I don't think they were the right role models for the team going forward," Jones said in an interview with former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons, published late Friday in the Sydney Morning Herald. "Don't get me wrong. They're not bad guys.
"But you need guys -– particularly when you've got a team like Australia has at the moment -– you need guys who are obsessed with winning, obsessed with being good, and those three are past those stages."
Hooper is widely considered one of the greatest players in Wallabies history, and is set for a frosty reunion with Jones next week. He is part of the Barbarians squad co-coached by Jones and incoming All Blacks coach Scott Robertson that will play Wales in Cardiff on November 4.
'The $64 question'
Former England coach Jones has ruled out a rumoured switch to Japan and pledged to stick with the Wallabies after their disastrous World Cup, but speculation continues to swirl about his future.
The Sydney Morning Herald, citing multiple sources, reported this week that the 63-year-old and Rugby Australia had taken the first steps towards formally negotiating his departure.
According to the newspaper, there are exit clauses in his contract related to the governing body securing private equity investment and moving to a centralised governance system with its state unions to grow the game.
Neither has yet happened, which Jones insists must occur to halt the "deterioration in Australian rugby".
"They want to do it, Hamish McLennan and Phil Waugh, and are 100 percent committed to doing it, but whether they can is the $64 question," Jones told FitzSimons, referring to the Rugby Australia chairman and chief executive.
Asked if what he really wanted was to leave with a payout from Rugby Australia for ending his contract early, Jones retorted: "Definitely not. "A payout has got nothing to do with it, it's about whether we can make the change to make Australian rugby strong," he said.
"Rugby Australia has to play its part, I've got to play my part, and then we're gonna decide whether we're on the same pathway or not."