Reports in the press today saying he is going to quit. Could be worse - he could commit to staying and wrecking things even more.
Eddie Jones is set to quit as Wallabies coach to take over Japan, media in Japan have reported.
Jones has been linked to the Japan role for some time, and admitted to Rugby Australia officials that he’d been given a standing offer but had turned them down, given he is contracted as Wallabies coach until the end of 2027.
Jones denied taking a job interview with Japan on the eve of the disastrous World Cup campaign, and told RA chief executive Phil Waugh there was no truth to reports he would take the Japan role.
However, sources have told Code Sport that Jones is “definitely” in the running to take over from Jamie Joseph as Japan’s head coach from next year.
Jones has come under fire in recent weeks as poor results mounted and rumours of his possible exit swirled.
“You can’t be a good coach if you are not a good selector,” wrote former Wallabies coach Alan Jones in a scathing column this week.
“Jones is a dreadful selector. And who is he coaching for all that money?
“Rightly or wrongly, we have become the laughingstock of the rugby world.
“When the image of the Australian coach appears in stadia across France, rugby audiences boo him.”
Former Wallaby Brendan Cannon was similarly pointed in his criticism, laying into the departed coach’s youth selection policy.
“The constant chopping and changing of personnel, and Jones’ decision to remove – among others – Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper – from his squad was a disastrous move,” Cannon wrote.
“In essence, Rugby Australia’s decision to sack Dave Rennie as coach after his first World Cup camp in January this year, which followed three years of planning and building depth, in order to parachute Jones into the role, sabotaged their entire campaign.
“It was like running a marathon and then changing your entire race strategy with three kilometres remaining; completely seizing your legs and crawling to the finish line as others that had trailed you the whole way ran past.”
