The China Mail - Defiant Jones insists he's doing best thing for misfiring Australia

Jones brought a young and inexperienced squad to the World Cup in France, leaving the likes of former captain Michael Hooper and fly-half Quade Cooper out of his 33-man group.

The move appeared to have backfired last week when the Wallabies lost to Fiji for the first time in 69 years as young fly-half Carter Gordon suffered a torrid time before he was hauled off 10 minutes into the second half.

Australia know they cannot afford to lose to Wales in Lyon on Sunday or they could face the ignominy of failing to reach the knock-out stages for the first time at a World Cup.

Jones has no regrets about his squad selection, though, despite losing six of his seven matches since he took over the reins for the second time in January.

With a hint of sarcasm, he told reporters: "I've let Australian rugby down, mate, I haven't done the job I was brought in to do. I was brought in to turn it around so I feel that responsibility.

"I think I'm 100 percent doing the right thing for Australian rugby, and I apologise for the results," added the combative former hooker.

"If we're falling short, that's OK. I'd rather aim up there and not reach it.

"But we're trying to create a team that creates dreams for Australian rugby. We're not trying to be a mediocre team."

Jones has come under fire from former Australian internationals Drew Mitchell and David Campese over his decisions.

But the 63-year-old former England coach insisted that the older players who had flattered to deceive since 2015, when they won the Rugby Championship and reached the World Cup final, were "not the future of Australian rugby."

"Those guys have been around, the results over the last period of time haven't been at the level where they need to be," he said.

"Our results are even worse but sometimes you have to do that to go forward. And we need to create a new group of players that have high standards of training, high standards of behaviour, high standards of expectation. And that's what we're trying to do."

- 'Six years to build World Cup team' -

Asked why he had not waited until after the World Cup to begin his rebuilding job, Jones was defiant.

"I don't think waiting is the right answer, because you need to start building a team. To win a World Cup, I reckon it takes six years," he said.

"You look at most teams, it's groups of young players that start together. They might win the under-20s (World Cup) together, then they have one or two years where they have a tough time, and then they mature into a good team."

Jones refused to confirm whether he would still be at the helm in four years time, when he would expect to have a fully mature team for the 2027 World Cup on home soil.

But he said he was not kidding himself about the possibility of getting fired if his team crashes out against Wales.

"At the end of the World Cup, there will be a review and given the results we've had then maybe Australian rugby doesn't want to keep me, that's the reality of the job I live in, and I understand that," he said.

"Sometimes you've got to take some hard decisions to get the results further down the track, and I've got no doubt we'll win on Sunday."

Australia beat Wales the last time they faced each other, in Cardiff in November.

But they had lost three in a row before that since a 13-match winning streak against the Welsh was ended in 2018.

K.Lam--ThChM