LYON, France -- Wallabies players are adamant they did not discuss the bombshell article that alleges Eddie Jones is investigating a return to Japan as coach, saying it had no impact on their "embarrassing" 40-6 loss to Wales that saw them bomb out of the Rugby World Cup at the pool stage for the very first time.
Australia were obliterated in a record World Cup defeat for the nation on Sunday night, with a rampant Wales dishing out a rugby lesson to Jones' inexperienced squad. The 34-point margin was also a record loss for the Wallabies against Wales, whom they beat in Cardiff under Dave Rennie late last year.
But that result seemed another world away on what a glorious Lyonnais evening, after a day in which the code had been embroiled in controversy back in Australia following the damning Sydney Morning Herald report, which alleged Jones had taken an interview with the Japanese Rugby Football Union about a return to the post he last held in 2015.
Jones twice denied the report in his post-match press conference in Lyon, while Wallabies players all lined up in defence of their coach, saying either that the article had not been discussed or that it had made no impact on the team's performance against Wales.
"There was nothing to address. Eddie's committed to us, we're committed to Eddie. So there was nothing to address, we were just focused on tonight's match," lock Richie Arnold said when asked about the report.
Pushed on whether he thought Jones was truly committed to the Wallabies beyond the World Cup, Arnold added: "100%."
Fullback Andrew Kellaway, who was playing his first game of the tournament after Jones' decision to switch Ben Donaldson to fly-half, said he wasn't aware of the firestorm engulfing Australian rugby.
"Which one was that, sorry? I didn't see that and didn't hear anything today. I can't answer that one unfortunately."
Asked why he thought Jones was the right man to take the Wallabies forward, Kellaway pointed to the 63-year-old's past World Cup coaching performances as evidence he could turn the team around in the coming years.
"I think you've got a guy with a proven track record, right. It's not his first rodeo. He is the first person to put his hand up and say the results haven't been good enough. There is a bigger picture in mind, I'm sure," Kellaway said.
"A lot of these guys, in fact all of us, will be better for these experiences, which sounds like a horrible thing to say at this point, it feels strange to say that but it's true. He's a guy with a lot of experience to teach and, to be totally fair to him, he's done a pretty good job at trying to teach those.
"As players we've let him down. We haven't taken the message and we haven't fronted up. He didn't lose the game. He wasn't out there last week and he wasn't out there tonight."
Rising prop Angus Bell added only that the report "didn't" impact the team's preparations.
The Wallabies found themselves in trouble early on in Lyon, after barnstorming back-rower Jac Morgan tore through the heart of their backline and found scrum-half Gareth Davies back on the inside for a try next to the sticks as some fans were still finding their seats inside Groupama Stadium.
Australia were able to respond with back-to-back penalties, before a decision to spurn three points was only further compounded when they completely butchered a lineout close to the Welsh line. Again it was Morgan who snaffled the loose ball, the back-rower booting the ball deep into Wallabies territory and into touch for a 50/22 and a Welsh lineout.
After that farcical lineout, the Wallabies barely stressed their opponents' line again.
"It's a tough pill to swallow, we let the country down, we let ourselves down - pretty embarrassing to be honest," Arnold told ESPN of the team's performance.
"F--- mate, what didn't go wrong? I thought we started well and then we just got into a bit of a grind, they just wanted to play in that grind, into that boxing. And then a crucial lineout there, an attacking lineout, we stuffed the lineout, they got a 50/22 and that was a big momentum change.
"And then a few penalties there; I think it was 16-6 at halftime there and we were still in the game there, and the scrum fell away there and we didn't start well at all in that second-half, and they just got on top."
Wallabies vice-captain Tate McDermott, who was one Australian player to keep his reputation largely intact in Lyon, said he also hadn't seen the Herald article.
"I doubt with the amount of media on us at the moment that anyone saw that, in fact I didn't see it, so I'm not quite sure what you're talking about," McDermott said "I didn't hear anything of it."
Pushed on whether he thought Jones was committed to the Wallabies, McDermott added: "100 percent."