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Eddie reveals stance on Wallabies RWC gig, and the NRL star who sums up biggest problem with Australian rugby

23rd December, 2022
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23rd December, 2022
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Eddie Jones has cooled raging speculation that he could be ready to return to the Wallabies ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

Jones, 62, has told the Sydney Morning Herald, that “coaching at the next World Cup will be difficult,” following his departure as England coach.

Jones has been linked to a return to Australian rugby, either as a colleague of, or replacement for, incumbent coach Dave Rennie.

He told the Herald of the stress of the past few seasons at the helm of the England team.

“It probably has struck me that the last three years has taken a fair bit out of me. Three, four days after I got sacked, we had to take the dog for a rabies shot – now we have to try to get her out of the country – and I went down to the local shopping centre and I realised I probably haven’t been there for two and a half years,” said Jones.

“It was pretty all encompassing the last three years, so I think I’ll take a bit of a breath now. If someone comes forward and the offer’s too good to refuse then I’ll look at it, but I think it’s getting too close to the starting point of the World Cup, so I’m not too bothered one way or another.”

Jones said he was interested in a job where he could “add value”.

“That would be my starting point: whether I can add value and whether they can win. They’re the two things I’m looking at,” Jones said.

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he has also been linked to the United States and Georgia – both are teams where he could clearly add value, but not where he could win what he he recently described as the “ultimate trophy.”

Jones also had a sobering view on the state of the game in Australia, and contrasted it to the “vitality” of the National Rugby League.

Eddie Jones, Head coach of England poses for a portrait during the England Rugby World Cup 2019 squad photo call on September 15, 2019 in Miyazaki, Japan. (Photo by Michael Regan - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

 (Photo by Michael Regan – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

Praising Rennie for doing “a really good job under difficult circumstances”, Jones said Australian rugby couldn’t afford to keep letting top schoolboy talent move to rugby league.

“For Australia to be at their best and be a World Cup champion, you need to get those kids, who are good players at schoolboy level and rugby players, so they don’t get missed and go to rugby league,” Jones said.

“It’s tough because you’ve got all those NRL clubs and the competition is firing and they’ve all got money. A young kid like [Angus] Crichton – I don’t know the exact details – but I believe when he came out of school, he was offered something like $40,000 to play Waratahs and be a bits-and-pieces player.

“He gets offered five times that by the Roosters, he’s going to start, he’s going to be in the team. It’s a hard thing for a young player to resist.

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Angus Crichton celebrates

(Photo by Getty Images)

“Those challenges have always been there but they’ve probably been magnified more now by the vitality of the NRL and also by the fact Australian rugby has dropped off a bit.”

Jones was also open about criticism of his methods, saying he might have been too soft, instead of too harsh, on players in the England team in the past few years.

“There’s some validity in all of that [criticism],” Jones said of him being known as a hard taskmaster.

“I can guarantee you it’s not for everyone.

“Having said that, I think there’s a track record that suggests that maybe some of that is exaggeration and some of it goes with a nice narrative for people to sell. You’re in a national gig for seven years and at the end of it, you’ve only got players saying good things.

“I haven’t heard any of the current players come out and say, ‘Shit we’re glad he’s gone’. There’s no reason for them to say nice things now because I’m not going to have any effect on their career.

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“There’s the fact that I coached Japan for four years, England for seven years, that’s 11 years in international coaching. If your methods are so bad, you’re not going to do that.

“Let’s be completely honest about it, I can be too hard on people. But I’m less like that now. One of the things I do question is whether I was too soft in England, particularly in the last two or three years, whether I didn’t put the hammer [down] enough.”

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