Infotainment Factory: Eddie's expansive answer to world rugby 'danger'

SAINT-ETIENNE: Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has given a fascinating assessment of the state of modern rugby, including his belief that the use of the TMO is "fraught with danger."

Jones was understandably peppered with questions about Will Skelton's untimely training injury and the coach was in no mood to give expansive answers on that and several other topics on Friday.

But after admonishing an English journalist for "following me around," he bought into his line of questioning regarding the trends unfolding at the Rugby World Cup.

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"I just think the game is evolving this World Cup, the game's evolving into these 30-second bouts of absolute power," Jones said on Friday.

"So big people playing the game, you've got these 30-second bouts of power then interspersed with a two-minute burst of like soccer/football, where there's a lot of transition and you've got to be able to play really quickly. And I think it's really fascinating at the moment where the game will go next.

"World Rugby have tried to make the game safer, but they've made it more powerful by having more stoppages in the game. And there's risk to that when the game becomes more powerful.

"I think this World Cup will be decided by who can win those power contests, but then it might be in one game, and particularly a game like Fiji where there is a lot of counterattacking, that it might be one of those football/soccer-type episodes where there is a lot of transitional play.

"So I think the game's in a really fascinating spot."

The Wallabies play Fiji in Saint-Etienne on Monday (AEST).

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Jones said the power/transition game dichotomy also presented "intriguing" challenges and opportunities from a strength and conditioning perspective.

"How do you get the players to get the skill set to be able to play in this power game and at the same time be able to play in this transitional game? I've always said you need the game to be more continuous, the average ball-in-play is 30 seconds, the average break in the game is 70 seconds, so you encourage a power contest."

Jones has led two teams to World Cup finals - with Australia in 2003 and England in 2019.

Eddie Jones during Wallabies training at Stade Roger Baudras in Saint-Etienne.

He was also part of South Africa's brains trust when they won the 2007 World Cup and masterminded Japan's stunning upset of the Springboks at the 2015 tournament.

"I think we need more continuous play. I think our use of the TMO in rugby is fraught with danger, that we're asking a referee in the grandstand to make decisions on a different angle on the game, through video," Jones said.

"And it's not making the game a better spectacle, it's not making it a better game for the players, and I think we're just lucky because international rugby is so popular.

"Like you look at Lille last night, 50,000 there to watch France play Uruguay, we play a practice game against France and there's 80,000 people there.

"International rugby is so popular we could almost put anything on the field and people are still going to come because of nationalism and patriotism of the teams.

"But I think we need to improve the game, I think we really need to improve the game and at the end of this World Cup there'll be an opportunity to do that."