All Blacks great Sonny Bill Williams calls Eddie Jones a ‘disgrace’

PERTH – All Blacks great Sonny Bill Williams launched a stinging attack on Eddie Jones on Dec 14, calling him a “disgrace” who “obviously lied” to the Australian players and fans.

Jones was appointed Japan’s head coach on Dec 13, six weeks after the Australian quit the Wallabies following their dismal showing at the Rugby World Cup.

The 63-year-old had repeatedly denied being linked with the job during the tournament and two-time World Cup winner Williams, now a pundit, told Australian broadcaster Channel Nine: “It’s quite sad, isn’t it?

“My thoughts on this whole saga is that he lied. Obviously he lied to the players, he lied to the public, he lied to the Australian rugby union. What a disgrace.”

During his time with the Wallabies since he took charge in January after being fired by England, Jones won two of nine Tests, including a worst-ever World Cup where they failed to make it out of the pool phase for the first time.

“Second point would be, I feel sorry for Japan. His track record speaks for itself,” added Williams, who also played rugby league and had a successful boxing career.

Jones, who will officially take over on Jan 1 on a four-year deal, previously coached Japan for three years from 2012.

He said in a packed press conference in Tokyo, also on Dec 14, that there is no guilt about taking the Japan job.

“I feel terrible about the (Wallabies) results, because I wanted to go back and change Australia. But I don’t feel any guilt at all about this process,” he said.

Jones is well respected in Japan, especially after leading them to their greatest rugby triumph, masterminding their “Miracle of Brighton” win over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.

However, Jones, who has a Japanese-American mother and a Japanese wife, will have plenty to prove as his reputation has taken a beating after a disastrous 10-month Wallabies spell.

He was Japan’s assistant coach in the 1990s and returned to lead Tokyo Sungoliath in 2009, before taking over the national team three years later. Jones maintained a presence in the country even after leaving to take the England job in 2015, with a long-term consultancy role with Sungoliath.

He recently told reporters in Yokohama that Japanese rugby had “always been my passion”.

A tough coach who bases a lot of his work on the application of science, Jones turned Japan into bulldog-fit competitors for the 2015 World Cup.

As well as the stunning triumph over South Africa, they also beat Samoa and the United States, but failed to advance past the group stage. Their achievements sparked a wave of rugby fever in baseball-mad Japan, with Jones hailed a hero.

Despite his recent failings, Japan’s players are unlikely to find that he has mellowed.

His thirst for a challenge does not appear to have run dry either, telling reporters in November that he wants to implement major changes in Japanese rugby.

“You’re going to have to be courageous and you’re going to have to do things differently,” he said.

“In terms of experience and learning, the older you get, the better the coach you are. I am a much better coach than I was this time last year.” AFP