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/ 15 December 2007
New Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says he arrives in the job with no ”historical baggage” to revive Australian rugby’s declining fortunes. The 48-year-old New Zealander, appointed on Friday for four years, is the first foreigner to coach the Wallabies, in a decision which has received almost universal acceptance within Australian rugby.
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/ 2 November 2007
Broadcaster Alan Jones has applied for the job of Wallabies coach and said he wants to be an agent of change. Jones, who coached the Wallabies from 1984 to 1988, said he did not expect to take the team through to the next World Cup in 2011 but wanted to introduce a more attacking style of play.
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/ 24 October 2007
Former Australia coach Alan Jones would be prepared to return to his old post if he is asked to take over from the outgoing John Connolly. Queensland Rugby Union chairperson Peter Lewis suggested on Tuesday that Jones would be the ideal person to coach the Wallabies.
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/ 22 October 2007
South Africa may have reclaimed the World Cup for the southern hemisphere after a one-off win by England in 2003, but that is not to say that the debate over who is in the ascendancy has been resolved. For many, the Springboks’ tactics in the 15-6 win over England in the final were decidedly of northern values.
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/ 12 October 2007
Spectators at this Rugby World Cup have had the privilege of ringside seats at a revolution. If there is one overarching conclusion to be drawn from the emergence of Argentina and the Pacific Islanders into major powers it is that the shape of international rugby between the quadrennial tournaments cannot stay the same.
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has blamed his successor, John Connolly, for Australia’s shock World Cup exit last weekend at the hands of old enemy England. Connolly replaced Jones two years ago and there has been no love lost between the pair, particularly since Jones signed up as an adviser to South Africa for this year’s tournament in France.
Australian newspapers on Monday sought to ease the pain of the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup exit at the hands of England — and the boot of Jonny Wilkinson — by taunting the All Blacks. ”At least we didn’t choke,” Brisbane’s Courier-Mail screamed across its back page.
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/ 30 September 2007
Eddie Jones will not compromise what he knows of the Wallabies’ inner workings to the advantage of fierce Rugby World Cup rivals South Africa, Springboks coach Jake White said on Sunday. White, who is using Jones as a consultant at the tournament, says the former Wallaby coach is a huge positive for him and the Springbok team.
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/ 24 September 2007
New Zealand, Australia and South Africa may not have been at their destructive best but all three southern hemisphere giants have kept up their unbeaten World Cup records. Little Tonga pushed South Africa, and scored three tries, before they were edged out 30-25 in a pulsating clash in Lens on Saturday.
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/ 23 September 2007
The Wallabies claimed top spot in group B with a fitful 55-12 win over Fiji to lock up a quarterfinal place at the Rugby World Cup at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier on Sunday. The Australians always had the game under control, but it was an unsatisfying, error-strewn performance against the second-string Fijians.
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/ 13 September 2007
The Wallabies are shocked by what they see as an over-the-top crackdown on foul play at the Rugby World Cup and are on notice to keep it clean during the rest of the tournament. The International Rugby Board (IRB) has sent out a firm message to the teams that foul play will not be tolerated with four citings and suspensions from the opening matches.
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/ 9 September 2007
New Zealand and Australia scored a combined total of 167 points and 24 tries as the southern hemisphere giants ruthlessly exposed the huge gap in international rugby at the World Cup on Saturday. The All Blacks swept aside Italy, who had beaten both Wales and Scotland in the Six Nations this year, 76-14 while Australia crushed Japan 91-3.
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/ 3 September 2007
The great debate: Is this the Wallabies’ A team? Or merely the Wallabies’ A-frame team? That’s the question controversial Australian rugby columnist Greg Growden ask in his Monday Maul. It is impossible to avoid the fact that the Australian World Cup campaign revolves around those on their last Test legs, rather than those at the peak of their careers.