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Report: Eddie Jones expected to quit Wallabies job
By Kim Ekin
Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones is expected to quit as the Wallabies head coach in order to become Japan’s next head coach according to a report from The Telegraph.
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The UK paper has followed reports from Japan that stated contract negotiations were underway during the Wallabies failed Rugby World Cup campaign which saw them exit at the pool stage for the first time ever.
Jones came under widespread criticism after a report leaked that he was taking Zoom interviews with Japan during the campaign.
Those appear now to be a very real concern for Rugby Australia with Japanese media reporting that Jones is set to take over from departing head coach Jamie Joseph.
“Current Australian national team coach Eddie Jones is expected to return as the successor to Joseph,” Japanese website Sponichi claimed.
“This spring, Masato Tsuchida, president of the Japan Association, with whom he has had a honeymoon relationship since his days at Suntory, contacted him.
“Contract negotiations have been held privately behind the scenes, and preparations are underway for (his) return (for the first time) since the 2015 World Cup, which led them to a historic three wins.”
The Telegraph reported that Jones was expected to meet JRFU officials in early November for a second interview but that has coincided with coaching commitments with the Barbarians.
With Jones’ long-term links to Japanese rugby, he remains an ideal candidate despite being contracted to Rugby Australia through to 2027.
Jones and Rugby Australia officials have continued to deny that he is leaving and have stated that they remain committed to Jones’ Wallabies tenure.
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If the Wallabies head coach does quit it would be a sensational shock departure after inking a long-term deal to oversee the Wallabies through two World Cups and a British & Irish Lions tour.
Eddie is free to go where he wants to go.
Australian Rugby on the other hand have a lot to answer for. If he leaves it will be the ultimate embarrassment for them.
If true, Eddie used them to pad his pockets while he’s out of a job for a few months. Fair play to him.
Either way Australian Rugby really need to sharpen up.
Good Riddance, Eddie, if this turns out to be true.
It’s one thing to take a call in case you get fired, but quite a different thing to actively pursue a new opportunity when your current employers are depending on you to deliver what you said you would.
Stormers fans will remember 2016, when Eddie took the job as head coach of the team, and then took the England job before the Stormers season even started. Everyone understands the attraction of the England role, and no doubt there was a clause in his Stormers agreement to allow it. Also, it is better for him to leave before he even started than a few months later. But it does tell you that he is an opportunist.
Right now Eddie should finish the Australia job if he is asked to do it, and it would be shocking for him to head off to Japan. But if he is asked to move on then I would not begrudge him having a Plan B in his back pocket.
This is not the time for career opportunism. It is the time for ramping up a 4-year plan that delivers a top four WR ranking, and at least an RWC semi-final for Australia on home soil. And if he's speaking to Japan he should be telling them that he's only available if he is asked to leave the Wallabies.
Don’t worry folks, its all going to work out for Aus. Fozzie needs a new job soon. Perfect timing.
Finally, good news! Our Australian friends will be able to seriously prepare 2027...
Well there you have it, the man has no honour or honesty. Said it from the beginning, he’d sell his own mother for a paycheque
Whoever fired Rennie and hired Eddie should be the first out the door.
It is what it is. Whatever he does will be for the best of all concerned.
Good riddance. He stabbed the Wallabies in the back by trying to slip in a couple of his hopeless Tah pets Porecki and Donaldson and it backfired on him. Too bad, too sad Eddie. You dug your own grave.
Charlatan. This appears to be true then. He said I'm committed to Australia rugby in interview and never gave the key answer if he will be their to coach in 2024. What sort of manager has this type of integrity l. NO mate..you must have respect for yourself and the game…