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Tim Horan reveals what Wallabies players were saying in sheds after Wales loss
By Ned Lester
Rugby World Cups are brutal and this young Wallabies squad have learnt that the hard way in their second pool stage loss in France.
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The 40-6 defeat at the hands of Wales is the largest the Australians have conceded in their illustrious World Cup history and comes off the back of another historic loss, having fallen to Fiji the week prior.
The criticism is loud and the consequences may be significant as Rugby Australia has announced there will be a review into the campaign with coach Eddie Jonesā job potentially on the chopping block.
With Wales and Fiji both owning superior winning rates in Pool C, the Wallabies face a first-ever pool-stage exit.
āWeāre hurting,ā Wallabies legend Tim Horan told Andy Ellis on The Front Row Daily Show. āThe players are stinging, the fans who have saved up so much money over the last four yearsā¦ Youāre never guaranteed the side youāre supporting at the Rugby World Cup is going to go deep or go to the final but I feel for the players. Theyāre gutted.
āI walked into the dressing room, I havenāt been in the dressing room for probably 10-15 years, I just wanted to go in and just shake their hand, put a hand on their shoulder and just make sure theyāre okay because I think itās going to sting for a long time.
āWeāve been there, weāve had big losses in Test matches or grand finals or whatever, and every time your head hits the pillow in the next four or five years, 20 years time, youāre going to be looking at the ceiling thinking about that loss.ā
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Memories of the losses recurring night after night pose a torturous outlook for Wallabies personnel, and the team will have to wait four years before they get the chance to make amends for the losses on rugbyās ultimate stage.
That chance will come in their own backyard, as Australia will host the 2027 Rugby World Cup. For now, the Wallabies must channel the disappointment into fire for their final pool match against Portugal.
Horan expanded on his time in the Wallabies dressing room after the match and revealed the players had just one thing to say.
āWhen the players walked past, they were just saying āweāre sorryā, because they know theyāve hurt, their feelings are hurt, as fans are. The supporters around the world, that come from London, that come from all over the world in a Wallaby gold jersey in support, theyāre going to hurt for a very long period.
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āAnd itās good, you want them to sting because you want to remember that feeling.
āItās not all about Eddie Jones either, Eddie is going to have to take some responsibility, so are the players. The players for the next week or so, theyāve got another game to play, how they respond, their values, their standards, itās all going to come down to how the players respond.
āThe hard thing now is how do we provide hope for the next two years going into a British and Irish Lions series? And then in four yearsā time, hosting your own Rugby World Cup? How do we regroup with the help of our New Zealand neighbours to try and continue to grow the game in Australia? Weāre at the lowest we can be now.ā
The 80-Test Wallaby is no stranger to the highs and lows of Rugby World Cups, Horan recalled his experience bowing out earlier than anticipated and the pain that accompanied it.
āWe obviously won the World Cup in 1991, put rugby on the map in Australia, ticker tape parades. But then, in 1995, we thought weād do the same game plan and weād win the World Cup but we get knocked out by England in that quarter-final in Cape Town.
āWe had all these tickets planned for the semi-final and final, and the majority of the players ā we flew out two days later ā arrive in Perth with about 15,000 Aussies arriving in Perth going to Johannesburg.
āWe had guys in the airline club hiding behind pot plants as all the fans were coming in through. Because players were embarrassed, and thatās whatās happened against Wales and it stings and that still hurts.ā
Feel back for the Aussies but at least Nick White has a solid acting career to fall back onā¦
Personally I think the whole super rugby needs an overhaul, we struggle to admit it but the loss is SA from super rugby has affected both Aus and NZ. Scrap the national patronage and have 12 - 14 sides with whatever nation the team resides they have to have an 70-80% locals with the rest being made up of overseas to strengthen the teams. Make it a so everyone gets even profit shares from tv revenue then all other revenue they generate is there own. All teams must have pathways in place with an U/20 comp played aswell.
I also think NZ has been the gate keeper on progress in the pacific and only recent law changes have changed that. The fact of the matter is we need to tap into pacific rugby not for any other reason but to grow our game and they will get bums on seats.
Also get back to the smaller team owned stadiums so we arenāt wasting money on these big empty stadiums. This also creates atmosphere and then those watching can see that people are interested.
We need to have a real hard lol at ourselves and realise Australian rugby isnāt what it was and we need to pull our heads out and we need to be out of the box thinking and we need NZ and the pacific nations to band together and make a truly great competition.
Lastly super rugby season is to short which also affect the Aussie not playing enough high quality rugby but when the product is poor itās hard to justify
As a kiwi who lived 25 years in Aussie I would like to see the Wallabies regain their lost prestige but don't see why it is the responsibility of NZR and it supporters to drag them out of the mud
NO RA CEO since 2003 HAS shown the slightest interest in NZ Rugby and has either back stabbed or trash talked us.
It's really hard to show any sympathy with regard to present situation they find themselves in
Thats a very literal interpretation of RA. It is incredibly hard to drive interest in the game here so a lot of the bluster is about doing so. It's not the responsibility of NZR to drag us anywhere but if you've hitched your wagon and drive a dollar of revenue from Australia then it's in your interests to support your business partner.
Australia has not won a Bledisloe Cup in the last 21 years and last state side to win the super rugby title was 12 years ago. If you not retaining younger players with talent to fill ranks when exceptional teams retire then you will never get the titles. Talent starts with local state leagues and retaining that talent to play through super rugby. If I was a young player and was offered contract with Rugby league or Rugby union I know at least I have a chance for a championship with league side.
Nope! Im not buying what Tim Horan is selling.
When the hell has RA or Australia for that matter extended an olive brunch to us. it's you're mess you fix it. I don't expect my neighbours to mow my lawn, wash my dishes. Stop throwing the ANZAC spirit in our face because as far as Im aware (yes I used to live in Oz) they are only interested in getting boozed at the pub rather than remember our fallen soliders. Get rid of the board and get rid of Eddie. You can't bring in young players and still have a dinosaur coach he needs to sit down and give it a rest. The bloke been around along time and that's a credit to him but it's time mate. I also don't prescribe to having a strong aussie is good for us I would like to hold onto that Bledisloe for atleast another 150 years. The RA have stabbed us in the back too many times
Have you ever needed an olive branch? A leg up? NZ has always been a stronger union in relative terms, driving a majority of broadcast rights and revenue and generally on a better financial footing. Why don't you subscribe to this view when it is patently obvious this is a JV and success (or failure) will be mutual.
Something that could be added to the mix of helping resurrect Aussie rugby is an invitation of several teams into NZ's NPC competition. It was done in the early 70s when Aussie rugby was on life support, let's make this happen again. Rugby will be the winner. Get strong again Australia šŖ
And why would NZ do that? What's in it for them? The NPC is a good competition which would be devalued by hopelessly weak Australian opposition.
Cheers. Such an overhaul required if we are brave enough. If we aren't then I cannot see rugby getting off life support for a long time.