Veterans Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley missed out on selection,with Jones later saying the pair were not the right “role models” for the team. Ben Donaldson later slotted into the No.10 jersey as the tournament progressed.

“When Eddie named that team[for the World Cup],what I was thinking at the time was that Eddie has been in the World Cup[before]. He knows what he’s doing. I’m going to trust him,” Tupou told theMaul or Nothing rugby podcast during Barbarians week in Wales earlier this month.

“Then I went to the World Cup and it didn’t happen. When the pressure was on,you needed guys who could handle pressure. We had guys who couldn’t do that.

“I don’t want to sit here and moan that it could have been this or that but an experienced 10 would have helped … or anyone who could have sat in the driver’s seat.

“When the team was named and I looked at the squad,it was a lot different to Dave[Rennie’s squad]. We knew how to play with each other.

“People will say we are the worst Wallabies team ever in a World Cup and whether we like it or not,it’s something we’re going to have to live with. It’s up to us to try and change that.”

Fellow prop Angus Bell said injuries to Tupou,captain Will Skelton and other players killed the Wallabies’ hopes of success.

“Injuries cruelled us a lot. They say the most important position … is at tight-head prop. Losing him[Tupou] was probably one of the biggest[factors]. We lost Allan Alaalatoa,who is a world-class tight-head. We lost Nela,who is one of the better tight-heads in the world. We lost Skelts,who is probably the in-form lock in the world currently.

“The boys who came in did a job but I believe injuries were the biggest thing in the World Cup. My opinion is it would have been a different result if we didn’t get those injuries.”

Back-rower Rob Leota admitted it had been difficult seeing Jones’ predecessor Dave Rennie sacked in January,just days after a Wallabies camp in Queensland.

“I think the craziest thing was we had our first Wallabies camp the week before,” Leota said. “We went home on the Friday and then we were all at our club teams on the Monday and I was getting told at training that he was getting the sack. We were just with him the week prior.

“That’s what probably rocked me the most because we literally just saw him.”

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