No scars or silver: Wallabies coach Eddie Jones is on 'a journey that is going to change Australian rugby'

"I've forgotten about them, mate," the incoming Wallabies coach said. "The last time I moved country, it was from South Africa back to England. I had about five boxes that included a gold medal and two silver medals, and I never got them back."

The scars of past failures clearly mean little to the incoming Wallabies coach as he returns to his post on a mission to restore pride in Australian rugby leading into this year's World Cup.

So what to make of a player like Noah Lolesio, the ACT Brumbies flyhalf who has bounced in and out of Wallabies squads since making his Test debut in 2020, and is pondering whether to pull the trigger on a player option in his contract or leave Australian rugby at the end of the year?

Lolesio's World Cup hopes have a pulse as Jones calls on Wallabies contenders to bury past demons and put their hands up to join a "journey that will change Australian rugby".

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"Mental scarring is not a factor in sport," Jones said at his first press conference since returning as Wallabies coach, captivating an audience like few others can.

"It's the ability of a player to want to be their best that is the most important thing. All we want is players who want to be their best. If they want to be their best, then any previous experience, they'll cope with."

Lolesio, 23, had fallen behind Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley in the flyhalf pecking order under the Dave Rennie regime, while Test-capped duo James O'Connor and Ben Donaldson, as well as Tane Edmed are also in the reckoning for the World Cup.

Jones is not married to the idea that Australia's flyhalf needs to be a veteran in order to lead the Wallabies to World Cup success.

"Some 10s can be inexperienced at 30, and some 10s can be experienced at 23," Jones said.

"It just depends on their ability to put all the bits and pieces together, to put all the information they get from the outside, look at the speed of the ball, their communication with their nine.

"At the end of the last England tour, I watched Edmed and Donaldson play against each other, Eastwood versus Randwick down at Coogee Oval, and both of them have got a lot to like about them. Donaldson played well on the last tour, he's a young guy coming through and he looks like he has got a good head on him.

"There's great competition, we've hopefully got Quade coming back, Foley is playing well in Japan, O'Connor will be fit for the Reds, and then you've got Lolesio at the Brumbies, a young guy who has had experience in Test rugby.

"It's going to be competitive, but we definitely have to decide a hierarchy of 10s. You want cohesiveness, particularly in the spine of your team. We'll try to get to that as quickly as we can."

Test centurion Matt Giteau made his debut during Jones' first stint as Wallabies coach and says today's crop won't know what's hit them when they enter their first camp under the veteran mentor. Lote Tuqiri suggested players pack a mirror because they will be made to have a good look at themselves.

Whether players are excited or worried about what Jones has in store matters little right now. What does count for the Wallabies coach is what he sees on the park.

That could be in Griffith this weekend, when the Brumbies face the Waratahs in a pre-season trial. Or it could be when those same clubs meet again in their Super Rugby Pacific season opener in Sydney on February 24.

"I don't really care, because at the end of the day, in Super Rugby they select themselves or they deselect themselves. Whether they're worried or excited doesn't concern me," Jones said.

"I want them to be at their best. If they're at their best in Super Rugby and they're in the top two or three in their position, they'll be in the Wallabies. Then they'll be excited, mate. Because then they'll go on a journey that is going to change Australian rugby.

"If they miss out, they're going to be so disappointed, because they're going to be sitting at home watching a Wallaby team do things they'd like to be a part of. Then they might work a bit harder and they might get in the team. What is their mental state at the moment, I don't really care."

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