Doco reveals Eddie didn't trust his own players

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones misled his players as well as the media during the Will Skelton injury shenanigans at the Rugby World Cup.

Jones named Skelton as his captain for last year’s historic loss to Fiji despite the giant lock suffering a serious calf injury in training.

Despite not training or being part of the captain’s run team photo, the Wallabies continued the charade right up until kickoff in Saint-Etienne when Richie Arnold replaced him in the starting team.

All three episodes of the brand new Stan Original Documentary Series The Wallabies – Inside Rugby World Cup 2023 premiere February 22, only on Stan

Eddie Jones and Will Skelton talk at Stade Roger Baudras.

Such tactics are common in professional sport as coaches try to mess with the opposition and their game plans.

But Stan’s behind the scenes documentary ‘The Wallabies – Inside Rugby World Cup 2023’, reveals that the anxious players were also kept in the dark.

“I’m not going to tell them (Skelton is out) because I don’t want it out to the media,” Jones tells team psychologist Corinne Reid, who had informed him the players wanted to know who was playing.

Eddie Jones and Will Skelton speak to the media during a Wallabies press conference.

“We say Will’s out, immediately the players will run to their agents. So at the moment, I’d rather them be in the grey a bit and then I can let them know tomorrow. So let’s be clear about this. We’ll name Skelton in the team today and just go about our business.”

Fiji beat Australia 22-15 and Skelton would go on to miss the entire World Cup.

“Will Skelton, I blame myself for that (injury),” Jones says.

“I think we got the order of training wrong. So that’s my fault.”

The three part series premieres on Thursday and features unprecedented access into the team’s inner sanctum.

The documentary also sheds light on two of the most infamous Jones storylines in 2023: his secret Zoom interview with Japan and his rant at the media before flying out of Sydney Airport.

Jones repeatedly denied the Sydney Morning Herald’s bombshell report before being unveiled as Japan coach in December.

“Well there’s no truth to it,” Jones says during the World Cup.

“At the end of the day, once you get on the bad side of the press, which I have here, you know, they’re going to keep going for you. And so therefore when they think they’ve got something on you, they’ll go for you hard and that happened.”

Veteran prop James Slipper admitted that the story was “probably” a distraction for some of his teammates as the Wallabies failed to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

Jones also doubled down on his criticism of the media, who dared to ask questions about his axing of Wallabies greats Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper.

“I thought it was ridiculous, mate, and it shows the paucity of Australian rugby journalism at the moment,” Jones said.

“Australian rugby’s in a bad spot and you’ve got a couple of idiots parading as journalists asking questions about players that have been left out.

“We’re about to go to a World Cup with a bunch of young players who deserve the opportunity.

“So I thought it was completely out of context and completely inappropriate.”