Days after Alan Jones branded his namesake Eddie Jones a “psychopath”, the new Wallabies has refused to bite back by saying “I’ll let that go through to the keeper”.
The Wallabies coach, who was sensationally appointed to the role a fortnight ago after being sacked by the Rugby Football Union in December, touched back Down Under on Sunday morning.
One of the first things he said after touching down at Sydney Airport was his desire to see rugby back in the newspapers across Australia.
His dream headline: “Wallabies win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 22 years”.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones opted not to respond to Alan Jones’ criticism of him after touching back Down Under. Photo: Matt King/Getty Images
Jones said he was “extremely honoured and humbled by the opportunity coach Australia again”.
The former Randwick hooker, who previously coached the Wallabies from 2001-2005 and was the last Australian coach to hold the Bledisloe Cup in 2002, said the first thing he intended on doing as national coach was to arrange meetings with the five Super Rugby franchises.
“Well, tomorrow it’s about meeting the Rugby Australia staff and start making plans about how we get out and to the states because the important thing is to catch up with the Super Rugby coaches and, obviously, the players,” Jones told Sean Maloney on the World Series feed at Allianz Stadium.
As well as arranging meetings with the Super Rugby franchises, it’s more than likely he will speak with Wallabies assistant coach Dan McKellar, who is in town and is expected to spend time with the Waratahs throughout the week.
McKellar’s future has been the subject of much conjecture in recent weeks given some believed he was in-line to succeed axed coach Dave Rennie.
But Jones’ five-year deal has tempered any genuine possibility of that occurring any time soon.
Whether he wants to serve under Jones for the long-term remains to be seen, but it is understood that at the very least McKellar wants to go to the Wallabies as an assistant under the veteran coach.
Jones, who made a brief appearance at the Sydney Sevens on Sunday, said he was excited by the talent on display in Australian rugby.
“I think if you just look at all the Super Rugby rosters, the talented players that are in Australian rugby are there, so what we’ve got to do is make sure that we put them into a team that has a pretty good idea of how they want to play and then they want to fight together,” he said.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones speaks to fans during the 2023 Sydney Sevens at Allianz Stadium on January 29, 2023 in Sydney. Photo: Matt King/Getty Images
Jones led England to 10 victories from 11 Tests against the Wallabies, including historic series victories Down Under as well as a World Cup quarter-final victory in Japan.
In the vast majority of those matches England ran away with the matches in the final quarter of the contests.
Indeed, that theme continued against a number of Test playing nations in recent years, including on last year’s Spring Tour where the Wallabies snuck home against Scotland and Wales but lost nailbiters to France, Italy and Wales.
Jones said winning the “tighter situations” was essential for the Wallabies to become a genuine force.
“I think Australian sporting teams generally, in particular the Wallabies, have always been good attacking teams and I think Australia has got plenty of that,” he said.
“What we need to be is a bit better in the tighter situations, and that’s something that we can work on.”
Eddie Jones won 10 off 11 Tests coaching against the Wallabies as England coach. Image: Getty Images
Meanwhile, Jones opted not to respond to a highly critical column in England’s Express newspaper.
Former Wallabies coach Alan Jones, who led Australia to their last victory against the All Blacks at Eden Park in 1986 and their last grand slam victory in 1984, slammed Rugby Australia’s decision to return to Eddie Jones.
“The prestigious rugby job of coaching Australia was not advertised. All the rules about making an important appointment have been broken,” Jones wrote in the Express.
“Clearly, no due diligence was done on a person, previously sacked by Rugby Australia.
“The lack of process must raise questions about the whole Rugby Australia Board.”
Jones later described the new Wallabies coach as a “sociopath” and “psychopath”.
“Right now, everyone is looking at the coaching record of Eddie Jones but few are considering what goes with it.
“He clearly displays character traits that psychologists would align with someone living with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).
“People with this condition are also commonly referred to as “sociopaths” or “psychopaths”.
“People with ASPD are controlling, aggressive and show no guilt or remorse for their destructive behaviour.
“In a nutshell, people with sociopathy may have little empathy and a habit of rationalising their actions but they know the difference between right and wrong.”
Eddie Jones opted not to respond to the column when asked at Sydney Airport.
“I’ll let that one go through to the keeper,” he said.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Yes agree. I also believe he had better players than the current Jones has.
Rugbynutter
Roar Rookie
Alan Jones good coach but can’t say the same as a commentator. He sells headlines by his sprays but can’t say I find any of them insightful.
mailman
Guest
"Alan Jones has never looked in a mirror"- couldn't agree more Red Rob...the hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness of the Parrot is breathtaking...
RiteO
Guest
Ireland wiped the floor with The Wallabies IN Australia in 1979, mate.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Woodart are you suggesting that the players actually make a difference to the success of a coach? Thats a concept many seem to be missing with this Eddie appointment.
Evan Boone
Guest
Almost 40 years ago
Evan Boone
Guest
Alan Jones just described himself. Just harpy.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
So you believe both are as bad as each other then I gather.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
He is hired on recent success so I guess we hope Eddie 2.0 is better for the wallabies. The issue is his success was mainly up till 2019. His record since isnt great at all RN. However he definately has a good record in the initial stages of his coaching appointments but then hits a cliff.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Yes I think most feel for Rennie whilst feeling right decision. Like Deans results wise he failed. It was a reply to the above comment greysy and the winning % proves Deans had a very similar record with the wallabies as Eddie did.
Passit2me
Roar Rookie
I remember AJ taking exception to Quade being sent off for a head high tackle. “It’s astonishing refereeing, he’s the captain” he said, “you can’t send him off” :laughing: Let’s not get Al on board….
Wizz
Roar Rookie
Verbal contest he wanted Eddie to engage in .Rugby wants headlines war of words may not have been bad .Alan was never given second crack it obviously still bothers him.He throws hand grenades which is counter productive but people are at least listening about rugby.
woodart
Roar Rookie
alan jones coached the wallahs back when teams like ireland, scotland, etc were nowhere ..near the challenge they were 20 yrs later. a grand slam was a lot easier in the 80s
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Eddie would be best not to tangle with Al verbally . Al is just shit stirring ! Few people love Australian Rugby as much as Al does . Very few people are as smart . Remember his Quadie Captained Barbarians . Get Al on board !
Passit2me
Roar Rookie
Contest? What contest is that Wizz? The war of words, calling each other Psychopaths? Yep I agree, it’s best Eddie stay out of that degrading, bottom feeding contest. Unless of course you think having a higher success rate than another coach, gives AJ Carte Blanche to insult them with the presumptuous diagnosis of being a psychopath? Particularly when it was only 2.5 years ago that Alan Jones said RA should being doing more to secure the services of Eddie Jones as Wallabies coach :laughing:. Alan Jones is a radio shock jock joke, who is losing his marbles.
Passit2me
Roar Rookie
That’s typical of Alan Jones, he’s completely unhinged and makes a heck of a lot of money by being controversial. He frequently makes recommendations about what RA should be doing, then when they implement the ideas he puts in the media, he criticises them for it :laughing: :laughing:. First he said Scott Johnson should have been considered as Wallabies coach, then when RA appointed him as Director of Rugby, Jones was nothing but critical of him the whole time, saying he had achieved nothing while overseas before being employed by RA. Jones was always highly critical of RA employing so many staff, repeatedly asking, “what do they all do”? Then when COVID hit, Jones criticised RA for having to lay off so many of their “poor staff” and send them to Centrelink. Jones was initially a supporter of private equity, then once RA began making serious noises about turning to private equity, Jones became highly critical of RA, saying private equity would ruin the game. Jones was always highly critical of Castle, yet when she quit after realising she didn’t have the full support of the board, he criticised RA, for pushing “poor Raelene” out. So, when Rennie was selected as coach, and Jones said it was unbelievable they hadn’t tried to secure the services of Eddie Jones, it only makes sense that he would now launch in and attack another decision by RA to hire Eddie Jones as coach :laughing: . Eddie is not the unstable Jones here…
Greysy
Roar Rookie
I've watched Australian rugby for a long time, thanks for asking. Neither my comment or the one I replied to is talking about the overall state of the game across decades, just the head to head record of two coaches. What's the legacy that most successful coaches leave behind anyway?
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
So why did those same " bullying" tactics , I call it physical domination work so well against England ....with Jones as coach ?
Qualify
Guest
Yes, but doing mental gymnastics to evolve siege mentality won't fool anyone. Boks are 3rd or 4th in the world. They lose to Oz almost every year, yet the story's always the same. Wallabies are rubbish and the AB's are respected and gushed over (embarrassingly so). As a South African myself, I've never been able to understand this hubris. In any event, we both know Jones is the coach the Boks should fear. The Wallabies missing link is mental toughness and he'll most certainly drill it into them. I don't think the Boks' bullying tactics will work against Jones.
Charlie Turner
Guest
Eddy handled that like a true professional. Others needs to take a leaf out of his book when it comes to Alan Jones who is just a bitter old tart mincing about old Sydney town.