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Kurtley Beale a key man in Wallabies' World Cup plans, says Eddie Jones

Rupert Guinness

Briancon: England rugby coach Eddie Jones believes Kurtley Beale is destined to play an integral role in Michael Cheika's 2019 World Cup plans.

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Eddie Jones: what rugby can learn from the Tour de France

Fairfax cycling writer Rupert Guinness speaks with former Wallabies coach and current England coach Eddie Jones about what rugby players can learn from cyclists, as he follows stage 18 with Aussie team Orica-Scott.

Jones, who coached the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, is stating the obvious when he says Australia face an enormous challenge in this year's Rugby Championship, especially against the All Blacks, but he understands Cheika's latest squad selection.

"He has tried to select on Super Rugby form, rewarded those guys that have been consistently good and probably left out a few guys who need to pick up their form a little bit," says Jones, speaking to Fairfax Media during a visit to the Tour de France to follow stages 18 and 19 with the Australian Orica-Scott team.

Jones says he is not surprised by playmaker Quade Cooper's omission, but expects he will return soon.

"If you were watching Super Rugby, it wouldn't come as a surprise," he says. "He was playing in a poor Reds side that struggled to get any sort of possession. It was difficult for Quade to play well."

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Jones says Cheika is "like any coach, he never shuts the door. He might need Quade. [Bernard] Foley could get injured. They might need Kurtley [Beale] at 12, then Quade comes back into the equation. The door is never shut."

On the other hand, Cheika believes Beale's role will be crucial. The outside back returns to the Wallabies fold for the first time since the 2015 World Cup, after which he played in England for Wasps.

"He is a brilliant player, Kurtley," Jones says. "There is no doubt about that. He did well for Wasps. I think he has made a conscious decision to go back because he wants to play for the Wallabies … his role at 12 or 15 will be absolutely influential for the Wallabies game going forward."

Australia's Super Rugby demise

Super Rugby is on its knees in Australia, highlighted by the ongoing uncertainty surrounding which Australian franchise will be cut to accommodate SANZAR's plans for a reduced competition. Added to that have been the sub-par on-field performances from Australian teams that this year failed to claim a win against any of the New Zealand franchises.

Asked how low Super Rugby has dropped in Australia, Jones is frank, but sees scope for a way out of the malaise.

"It's not great when you don't beat a New Zealand side, but these things can change round quickly," Jones says. "We have just seen South Africa … everyone was talking South Africa, that they are in a doom and gloom situation.

"The Lions and Stormers have come through [in Super Rugby and the Springboks] beat France 3-0 [in June].

"Australia is very similar … [there are] a lot of good players. It is just about getting them right, getting them mentally right, physically right. Cheika will make sure that happens."

However, Jones still believes that the move to cut the number of Australian franchises by one is the right option. Jones has long been an opponent of Australia having five teams. He still is.

"In Australia it has just weakened the pool of players, not strengthened the pool of players," he says. "The decision ... needs to be enacted. They need to get on with it, produce four strong sides and Australia can do that."

England and lessons learnt at the Tour de France

When Jones visited the tour last year in the Pyrenees, he was impressed by the communication between riders and their teams. But he is also impressed by how far cyclists can push themselves, and he's convinced that rugby players could learn from that.

While lauding the Tour as "a fantastic sporting event", Jones says his second visit was "about high performance, finding ways of how you can get athletes to give a little bit more when they are fatigued mentally and physically. There is no better sport than cycling to learn from.

"No one knows how hard you can push yourself, particularly in rugby.

"The intensity of the game is increasing. No one knows how far you can go. We want to be the team that finds out."

Pluses and minuses of Lions tour to New Zealand

Jones says he also learnt a lot from the drawn British and Irish Lions series with New Zealand, which he said exposed concerns for both sides.

For the British and Irish Lions, he believes it will be remembered as an opportunity missed. For the All Blacks, he said it showed deficiencies in depth in specific positions.

"It showed that New Zealand are probably struggling in depth a little bit in some positions, which hasn't been the case for a long time," he says.

However, the series also served Jones by forcing him to cast the net wider than usual to find Test talent. With 16 of his England players on the Lions tour, he had to select England's squad for the two-Test away series against Argentina in June from experienced players and new faces.

Jones admits he was "pleasantly" surprised by some of the squad during the series, which England won 2-0. Jones warned beforehand that pressure would be on his players in the Lions squad to hold their spots. And it seems he is poised to show how.

"We looked at those Tests in Argentina very seriously, as we did the Lions Tests," Jones says. "Some players promoted themselves. Some players demoted themselves. That will all come out in the wash."

What's up next for England

When Jones returned to Australia last month for a private visit, he met with Cheika, his former Randwick teammate who he got the better of last year in the June Test series that England won 3-0. Jones said the two did not dwell on the outcome of that series.

"We didn't need to go back over it," Jones says. "What's done is done. He coached. I coached. We said things that helped our teams and, at the end of the day, off the field we are still blokes who played together and have had a relationship."

However, it won't be long before Jones and Cheika will be rugby rivals again, and trying to get one over each other. The Wallabies will be one of England's opponents in November, along with Argentina and Samoa.

"We will look at those Tests as a continuation of the June series," Jones says. "A number of the Lions guys we probably won't play. We'll give them reconditioning periods to get right for the World Cup. It's about increasing depth again."