Wallabies to have strong Japan ties regardless of Eddie Jones, says Rugby Australia boss
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Australia head coach Eddie Jones resigned from the Wallabies role following their disastrous World Cup in France.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MELBOURNE – Rugby Australia (RA) will continue to have a strong relationship with Japan and will not buy into “speculation” about Eddie Jones’ dealings with the East Asian rugby union, RA boss Phil Waugh said.
Japanese media have reported that Jones will be confirmed as head coach of the Brave Blossoms on Dec 13, if the move is approved by the Japan Rugby Football Union’s board of directors.
Jones’ wife is Japanese and lives in the country. His mother is Japanese-American.
The 63-year-old resigned from the Wallabies role following their disastrous World Cup in France where they failed to get out of the pool stage for the first time.
Jones had been named Wallabies coach in January on a five-year deal after Dave Rennie was sacked. He won just two of his nine Tests.
Should Jones be confirmed as Japan coach, it would be viewed dimly in Australia given that he repeatedly denied reports he had interviewed for the job while preparing the Wallabies for their World Cup opener against Georgia in September.
Former RA chairman Hamish McLennan, who was fired in the wake of the furore surrounding Jones’ departure, last week told Australian radio station 2GB: “If it is true that he did that... that’s terrible and appalling... especially when you’re leading into a World Cup.”
After he officially quit his Wallabies post, Jones said he had resigned because RA could not commit “financial and political” resources to change Australian rugby.
Waugh, however, said he did not see any need to bring up Jones with the Japan Rugby Football Union.
“We’ll play a lot of Test matches against Japan and we look forward to continuing that strong partnership,” said Waugh.
“I’m not going to buy into speculation around what may have happened or may have occurred.
“We are moving forward to putting all those appointments in place and building a really strong culture for the Wallabies going forward.”
Jones coached Japan from 2012 to 2015, engineering a memorable win over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup in England.
That helped land him the job as coach of England, whom he took to the 2019 World Cup final and eventual defeat by South Africa.
Jones was fired by England in December 2022 having won just five of 13 Tests that year. Australia hope to name his replacement in early 2024. REUTERS, AFP
