Wales 40-6 Australia: Eddie Jones insists he remains committed to Wallabies despite record defeat

Eddie Jones insists he remains committed to his role as Australia head coach following the World Cup 40-6 hammering by Wales in Lyon.

Defeats against Wales and Fiji mean Jones is on the brink of becoming the first Wallabies coach to suffer an exit in the pool stage of the tournament.

Jones apologised to the Australia public for the record defeat against Wales but insists he wants to stay on.

"I think I have the ability to turn things around," said Jones.

"I was hoping we would have done it by now but we have not been able to. I haven't done a good enough job, and I'm bloody disappointed about it."

Jones took responsibility for the defeat and the current state of the Australia side.

The Wallabies have not officially been eliminated from the tournament but now need a series of results, including potentially Wales defeating Georgia and Georgia beating Fiji, to have a chance of progressing.

It was Australia's heaviest defeat in a World Cup match and took their record since Jones took over for the second time in January to one win and seven losses.

"I would just like to apologise to all the Australian supporters," Jones said.

"Our performance was not up to the standard that was required. I apologise for that. I take full responsibility for it.

"We are disappointed, we have a young team in there very disappointed.

"They tried their hearts out but unfortunately at the moment we don't have consistency in our play to put pressure on teams like Wales. We do some good things and then fall away. It's very disappointing."

Reports in Australia emerged on the day of the game claiming Jones held a zoom interview in August for the Japan head coach job next year despite having signed a five-year contract with Australia earlier this year.

Jones was England's head coach for seven years but was sacked nine months before the World Cup. He previously led Japan for three years including the 2015 World Cup.

In a fractious post-match press conference, Jones stated on a couple of occasions saying he didn't know anything about the reports.

"I really take umbrage at the questioning about my commitment to coaching Australia," said Jones.

"I have been working non-stop since I came in. I apologise for the results, but to question my commitment to the job is a bit red hot.

"So I'm not going to deal with any of those questions any further. I'm happy to talk about Wales, I'm happy to talk about Portugal. If you want to keep going with the line of questioning I will excuse myself."

Jones continued: "I am 100% committed to the Australian project.

"I came back to Australia to try and help but at the moment I am not giving much help, but that does not mean my commitment to helping has not changed.

"I am a proud Australian, I hate to see Australian rugby do as poorly as we have been doing, particularly during my reign.

"There is not only the Wallabies we need to improve, we need to improve the whole system of Australian rugby.

"That's not an excuse but we have to have a good look at Australian rugby and look at the we way are going about things."

When asked whether he was still the man to lead Australia, Jones replied: "That's not my judgement, it's the judgement of Rugby Australia."

Jones decided not to select experienced players like Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper for the World Cup and picked a young squad that has struggled.

The Wallabies have only won one game in eight matches since Jones returned in place of Dave Rennie.

"I was put in this job to turn Australia around and I don't think I could have done it with the players that had been playing," said Jones.

"We needed a fresh change. This is the most painful time but it's also the best learning time for young players and a young team. This is where they learn about the game at Test level.

"A process unfortunately takes time, it takes pain. Sometimes it takes more pain than pleasure.

"Whilst it looks like a bit of a shambles, I can guarantee you it's not. I have to coach the team better, there is no doubt about that. That is not good enough tonight and I am responsible for that."

• RUGBY DOCUMENTARIES: Changing lives, connecting communities and creating legends

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: All the latest news, views and interviews at the Rugby World Cup