Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones didn’t score an invite when Australian Rugby decorated its best and brightest in Sydney last night, with Melbourne backrower Rob Valetini named the 13th John Eales Medallist as best Wallabies player and barnstorming prop Eva Karpani awarded 2023 Wallaroos player of the year.
In a bleak year for the Wallabies, in which they won just two of nine Tests under Jones (who quit in October and is now coaching Japan) and failed to make the World Cup finals for the first time in their history, Valetini was a consistent beacon of hope.