Sonny Bill Williams savages Eddie Jones ‘mind games’ after record Wallabies loss at World Cup

Sonny Bill Williams has delivered a scathing review of Eddie Jones following the Wallabies’ World Cup humiliation.

Sonny Bill Williams has lambasted Eddie Jones after the Wallabies’ World Cup defeat to Wales. Picture: Getty Images

Sonny Bill Williams has slammed Wallabies coach Eddie Jones for reportedly holding a job interview with Japan just before the Rugby World Cup, which will now end in humiliation with looming exit in the pool stage.

Australia suffered their worst ever defeat at a World Cup, losing 40-6 to Wales in Lyon, and Jones – who was booed each time he was shown on the stadium screen – will find it hard to justify why he should see out his Rugby Australia contract that ends in 2027.

Williams said the players could not be expected to follow a coach who was chasing another job.

“As a player, if a coach shows his characteristics and does things like that, I’m not going to follow him into battle,” Williams said on Stan Sport.

“I’ve got to be prepared to die for a coach, and go out there and give my heart and soul.

“If someone is doing that – and the narrative that he’s saying is about the jersey, about the next four years – that’s how I feel.”

Cross-code legend Sonny Bill Williams has slammed Wallabies coach Eddie Jones. Picture: Getty Images

Williams was scathing of Jones’ “mind games”.

“That second half team, that looked like a team that just lost belief, and that starts from the head (coach) in the sheds, the guy that’s telling them to get up,” Williams said.

“They came out here and didn’t really perform at all, it’s really disappointing.

“I feel for these boys, I feel for the fans.

“I’m going to keep it real here, they were up against it from the start.

“Where we are right now, questions need to be asked, from selections to the mind games Eddie’s been playing with these kids, these young men.

“It was evident, there’s a guy in the studio back home (Michael Hooper) who should be here right now.

“The proof is in the pudding, 40-6 is really embarrassing, and I feel for these kids, they’re going to carry this on for the rest of their careers and feel this.

“But if I’m a player, I’m not following a guy that’s sitting having a meeting with another national team, potentially looking for another job, days before you’re hopping on the plane to come to this World Cup.”

Wallabies teammates Jordan Petaia and Samu Kerevi react after the loss to Wales. Picture: Getty Images

Jones had been pressed last week about reports he’d been sounded out by Japan, and described it as “bullshit”.

However, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Jones held a Zoom meeting with Japan Rugby officials about the coaching job days before the Wallabies played their World Cup warm-up match against France.

Jones’ second tenure as Wallabies coach has been an unmitigated disaster, losing seven of eight games including the World Cup pool games to Wales and Fiji.

Unless Fiji loses their next two games to Georgia and Portugal, Australia will not progress to the quarter-finals for the first time.

Eddie Jones addresses the media after Australia’s World Cup defeat to Wales. Getty Images)

This defeat was their biggest ever to Wales, and biggest in any World Cup.

Jones said afterwards: “I’m the person given the responsibility to coach the team, I haven’t done it well enough and I really apologise to everyone back home.

“We’re going through a pretty tough time at the moment, whether we’ve hit rock bottom, I don’t know, I’ve got to take the full responsibility for that.”

Originally published as Sonny Bill Williams savages Eddie Jones ‘mind games’ after record Wallabies loss at World Cup