“Moving forward,what are[Australia] going to do about Carter Gordon? Personally,I would love to see Carter get another shot,just for the young man’s confidence. He’s been there or thereabouts the whole time for the last six or seven weeks. For him to be pulled out like that would be a tragedy.”

Jones was defiant when asked about Gordon.

“When you’re a television commentator,you’re always right,” Jones said of Williams’ remarks. “Maybe I need to be a television commentator,then I’ll be right all the time.

“Carter is a young[five-eighth]. He’s going to have those days but he’ll bounce back,he’s a good young player.

“We’ve gone with a young team. I’ve got no regrets at all. We’re building a team for the future and we’re going to go through some pain. Some of the young players are going to go through some pain. You generally have an apprenticeship. He[Gordon] has plenty of support.”

Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi acknowledged that Gordon came off earlier than anticipated but indicated the youngster wasn’t too disheartened in just his second World Cup match.

“He got subbed pretty early but we’ve got to back what Eddie is feeling there,” Kerevi said. “Obviously,everyone is hurting,not just Carter. I let him down on the outside there,so I’ve got to pick up my[game] to help him.”

Australia have the youngest squad of all 20 teams in France,with 25 of the 33 players featuring at their first World Cup.

Jones made sweeping changes to Australia’s back line in the second half on Sunday by moving Donaldson into five-eighth from fullback and winger Mark Nawaqanitawase to fullback with the Wallabies chasing the game.

When Gordon was replaced,Australia trailed 19-8.

“We needed to get some momentum in the game,” Jones said. “I thought[Issak] Fines-Leleiwasa did that,Donaldson at 10 did that,Mark going to 15 did that and Suli[Vunivalu] scored us a try that put us back into the game. I thought they were positive changes that we made.”

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