If our young players go strong at the next World Cup I wonder if Jones will deserve or claim any credit because in his own words he was preparing us for the next world cup, not the current one.
Not really the ideal way for a top tier nation to approach a World Cup though.
Presumably some of the young guys he took will do a tiny bit better 4 years from now than they otherwise may have, having been on the stage before. But in the meantime Aus dropped out at pool stages for the first time ever and I think that does have consequences.
Is those handful of guys being half a percent better in the future worth the potential damage?
If you're a promising footballer with offers from both codes that Wallabies performance probably doesn't make you feel better about going down that path. Do I sign with one of 16 NRL clubs with SOO and a strong International side? Or one of 5 Aus Rugby clubs (who generally do between bad and okay) and have what is now a pretty poor International side?
It'd be a relatively fringe case also but an up and coming player may think twice about which eligibility to pursue.
Maybe a Fijian-Australian player goes with Fiji who would have gone with Aus if the Wallabies had excited them this tournament.
Or European ancestry for one of the sides who did well. If you can get a contract to go play over in Europe France, Ireland, England and Wales just topped all the pools. Might be more attractive to take the contract and try for your European side than to stick it out for the Melbourne Rebels and Wallabies.
Seems very realistic he has hurt Wallabies future as much if not more than he has benefited it by using some young guys to tarnish the reputation of the team.