Eddie Jones’ evaluation of “young 10” Carter Gordon following Fiji’s loss.
Carter Gordon may be the player most responsible for the Wallabies’ inexperience, as Wallabies coach Eddie Jones called the team he selected for the Rugby World Cup “a young team.”.
Gordon, 22, made his Wallaby gold debut during The Rugby Championship and went on to start both Bledisloe Cup Tests against the All Blacks.
However, the biggest surprise remained.
The only Australian listed as a flyhalf in the 33-man group was young Gordon, who Coach Jones chose over seasoned Quade Cooper for the Wallabies’ World Cup squad.
The playmaker has had trouble, though, in Australia’s two World Cup games so far.
Approximately 10 minutes into the second half of Sunday night’s defeat to Fiji, Gordon was taken off.
During the first 30 minutes of the match, Gordon gave up a few turnovers and failed to make one of two tackle attempts.
Gordon’s difficult night in Saint-Etienne was encapsulated in the first 30 minutes.
Coach Jones, however, has confidence in the flyhalf to recover, just as he did following Gordon’s challenging starting debut at the illustrious MCG in July.
“We had to gain some ground in the game.
Jones said to reporters on Sunday, “I thought (Issak Fines-Leleiwasa) Fines did that, (Ben) Donaldson at 10 did that, Mark (Nawaqanitawase) going to 15 did that, and Suli (Vunivalu) scored us a try that put us back into the game.
The changes we made, in my opinion, were good ones.
“Carter is only 10 years old; he will experience those moments, mate.
He’s going to have those days, but he’ll recover because he’s a good young player, as I believe I’ve said before.
“We selected a young team.
I don’t have any regrets at all, Jones continued.
“We’re building a team for the future, and we’re going to experience some pain, as well as some of the younger players experiencing some pain.
“Generally speaking, apprenticeships are conducted in this manner.
He has a lot of backing, says Carter.
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Even though the Wallabies made some progress in the Test’s final period, the game was already all but over.
Time does not wait for anyone, and Fiji had sprinted out to a commanding 22-8 lead with about 15 minutes remaining.
As the Flying Fijians maintained their defensive tenacity to win in a historic victory, time ran out on the Wallabies.
Jones’ Wallabies ended the year with a dismal record of just one victory from seven Test matches, Fiji’s first victory over Australia since 1954.
As a result, the men in gold are on the verge of having the Wallabies’ worst World Cup record ever.
Next weekend in Lyon, Australia must defeat Wales to advance to the quarterfinals; otherwise, they will not.
“I decided to go with a young team, and if that was the wrong choice, I’ll be held responsible.
“I believe that Australian rugby needs to transition to a younger team, and I’m willing to go through some pain to make that happen.
I want to leave Australia with a team that is capable of performing exceptionally well at a World Cup.
It doesn’t mean we can’t do that, though.
We’ve experienced a little setback today, but that’s par for the course in a World Cup.
“Funnier things have happened, but I do recall South Africa losing a game and winning the World Cup.
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