Drew Mitchell said the post-match declaration by Eddie Jones that he was taking full responsibility for Australia's Rugby World Cup defeat to Fiji was "an empty line".
Australia lost 22-15 to Fiji on Sunday putting their progress to the quarter-finals in serious jeopardy.
"Eddie sits there and goes 'It's my fault. I take full responsibility'," former Wallaby Mitchell told The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.
🗣️"They should be throwing baguettes and croissants at me!" 🤣
Head coach Eddie Jones is taking full responsibility after Australia's defeat to Fiji overnight 😬 #BBCRugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/tD6kkyTZs6— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) September 18, 2023
"What the fuck does that mean? He doesn't get dropped this week. He's not, not coaching next week. It's just an empty line in a press conference. What does that equate to? Nothing.
"You made some glaring decisions around Quade (Cooper), around Michael Hooper, six captains in seven games.
"Fucking explain some of these decisions to us because as fans we're here scratching our heads and a lot of the time, we can sit there and defend Eddie or the Wallabies because we can understand logic in some of these decisions. There's none of it.
23 February 2020; England head coach Eddie Jones prior to the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
"He's sitting there and not actually giving any explanation as to why Quade is not there, why Michael Hooper is not there.
"He said because Michael Hooper is injured. We've taken Pone Fa’amausili, Max Jorgensen and these other guys that are injured. That's a redundant point.
"Why the fuck have you not selected Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper? Come out and tell us why you have not picked these guys because now we're seeing the result of you not picking some of these guys."
Drew doesn’t hold back 😡 after the Wallabies defeat to Fiji. He wants some answers from Eddie and he wants them now!
Watch 📺 and listen 🎧 to the latest episode of #GBRA now.
Powered by Harvey Norman pic.twitter.com/aZSuf0x6MQ— GoodBadRugbyAus (@GoodBadRugbyAus) September 20, 2023
Mitchell added: "Was taking Carter Gordon off in the 50th minute [against Fiji] not a tip of the hat that Eddie got it wrong? He picked one ten in the whole Rugby World Cup squad and they didn't have the ability to change and adapt on the run.
"If we have a Quade Cooper, a Bernard Foley somewhere there maybe there's enough experience on that field to change things a little bit on the run.
"I thought it was almost an admission at the 50-minute mark, 'Oh, fuck, I've got this wrong'. The only 10 you've picked in your squad, you're taking him off. He got it wrong.
"Let's not take away from Fiji. I thought Fiji were amazing. I thought the breakdown, they absolutely smoked us. (Levani) Botia, (Josua) Tuisova and then everyone across the board just blew us away at the breakdown. I think there it was like 17 turnovers to the Wallabies to single digits from Fiji.
"Let's also not take away from the fact that we fucking shouldn't have lost to Fiji. This has been a long time coming.
"You talk about leadership in an organisation... We've had six captains in seven games. We've had a multitude of changes at CEO level, president level, coaching level. This is beyond just what happened [against Fiji].
"We got bitten in the arse and now it's probably time to wake up a little bit."
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