The Wallabies are in need of a Friend

In hindsight, a personality like Eddie Jones, fresh out of a drama-fuelled stint in England, was never a perfect match for an Australian side in rebuild mode.

The hostile comments and gruff persona that defined his approach to the off-field elements of the game in Europe never left him as he was tasked with re-energising the Wallabies. And it didn’t work.

Australia played nine Test matches in 2023 and only won two - against Georgia and Portugal.

Their Rugby Championship campaign was a calamity from the outset as they finished bottom of the final table. And to top off their misery, they failed to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

If Jones stayed in his role, he was already playing catch-up from a few miles back as the new World Cup cycle began - even Houdini would’ve struggled to wrangle his way out of the strait jacket into which Jones had stumbled.

Regardless of Australia’s recent fortunes, Jones’ credentials remain intact. He’s guided two different sides to World Cup finals, he coached England to Six Nations glory, and he took Japan to the brink of the World Cup quarter-finals in 2015 by beating South Africa on the way.

But he also brings a bombastic style that Australia will now need to avoid as the country sets about rebuilding the sport that is failing to capture the Australian public’s imagination.

They need a calming influence who has the ability to reap the same success as Jones with a different approach. They need the ying to Jones’ yang.

And the best man for the job may be one that served under Jones as he led Australia to the 2003 World Cup final during his first stint in charge of the country, the amicable coach who has recently returned to his home country and is currently available on the job market.

It should come as no surprise that former Connacht head coach Andy Friend, who became the province’s director of rugby in 2022, is being spoken about widely as a live contender for the gig.

But if he applies and secures the role, he’ll be facing a mammoth task that extends well beyond the pitch. Rugby union is not in a healthy place in Australia at the moment. It hasn’t been for some time.

In terms of popularity, it has been slipping down the pecking order behind AFL, cricket, rugby league and football. And stark underachievement is only going to see the sport slump further into public indifference towards the game.

Yet, that rather bleak reality makes Friend an ideal candidate for the role. When he arrived at the Sportsground in May 2018, Connacht had finished just off the bottom of Conference A in the Pro14. Kieran Keane had come to Galway with a fine reputation but the province never fully recovered following Pat Lam’s departure.

Keane never really became a citizen of Connacht like his predecessor.

The role of Connacht head coach is different, after all, to roles in other provinces. Connacht may not be able to call upon the same financial resources of their rivals, but they boast a tribal spirit that allows them to stand out. Visiting Galway is never a pleasant experience for other sides.

Lam leaned on this and developed the province’s DNA - and he made Connacht a provincial side that represented more than just the denizens of College Road.

That spirit somewhat dissipated after he left for Bristol Bears. But Friend, despite being a complete stranger to this small corner of the world, attempted to rediscover that unique aspect of Connacht Rugby.

As soon as he arrived in the West of Ireland, he immediately set about exploring the beauty of the west coast in his campervan and on his bicycle when he wasn’t busy at work within the Sportsground.

That willingness to embrace his new surroundings didn’t go unnoticed. And the rugby improved, too. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves in Galway again.

Bernard Jackman recently spoke about Friend’s suitability for the Australian gig, pointing to Rugby Australia’s need to hire a “diplomat” amid the warring factions that currently exist in the game Down Under.

The former Connacht coach has shown during his time in Ireland that diplomacy is perhaps one of his greatest strengths as a coach.

But he’s more than just a diplomat. He’s incredibly astute. This is the guy that unearthed one of the greatest wingers in the world from a bar on the other side of the world.

He spotted something in Mack Hansen when every other coach failed to pick up on his clear potential. And though he’s a hugely affable character, he’s able to make the tough decisions when needed.

Earlier this year, he suspended Bundee Aki, the province’s best player, for bad behaviour. That could’ve gone dreadfully wrong for the Australian.

But Aki bounced back to produce his finest form to date, eventually finishing up the year as a World Rugby Player of the Year nominee. It was a remarkable coaching feat. There are very few coaches in the world with that innate ability to develop such deep levels of trust with their players - Friend is one of them.

And it’s clear that he’s still keen to be involved in the sport despite his departure.

In a recent interview with The Roar, an Australian sports news outlet, it was easy to read between the lines and recognise the passion the 54-year-old still holds for the game back home.

He didn’t overly commit to becoming Jones’ successor, yet it was obvious that he would struggle to ignore the gravitational pull of the role.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and, in some capacity, I’d love to help Australian rugby just get a foothold again and be strong again,” he said.

Whoever eventually takes the job will need endless reserves of passion and dedication to the Wallaby cause. Off the back of their worst ever World Cup performance, the country is facing into a Lions Tour in 2025 and, as we stand, all four home nations are ranked higher than Australia in the world rankings.

Two years later, they’ll be hosting the World Cup on home soil. Australia needs a calm and warm presence to nurture a young, albeit very talented, team without the luxury of time.

Following his recent departure, Jones told Australian media: “Sometimes you have to eat **** for others to eat caviar further down the track.”

You get the sense that even Jones couldn’t but respect his former colleague if he ends up chomping down on that caviar in four years’ time.