Jones denies past and future talks with Japan over coaching job

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has again emphatically denied he is a candidate to be the head coach of Japan.

Jones fronted the Australian media at Coogee Oval on Tuesday morning for the first time since this masthead revealed he was secretly interviewed by Japanese rugby over Zoom just days before the Wallabies’ final warm-up match, and again denied any discussions had taken place.

Jones was also asked whether he had been in contact specifically with any third parties such as recruitment agencies or executive search organisations regarding the Brave Blossoms role.

“Not that I’m aware of,” he responded.

When asked if he was to take part in another interview for the position in November, he replied, “No”.

When pressed if he categorically denied that, he responded, “Yep”.

Jones was asked by this masthead what the difference was between now and 2015, when he sat in Cape Town, South Africa as the newly appointed head coach of the Stormers and denied that he was in discussions for the England job that he subsequently accepted days later.

“That’s a different situation, mate,” Jones said.

Eddie Jones fronts the media in Sydney for the first time since the World Cup.Credit: Steven Siewert

Jones repeatedly denied having spoken to any Japanese officials, including the Japan Rugby Football Union president Masato Tsuchida, regarding their vacant head coach role.

“I haven’t been speaking to anyone, mate,” said Jones when questioned about the interview with Japan.

On whether he would be staying on as Wallabies coach, Jones said he was committed, but that it wasn’t completely up to him.

“I’m staying, mate. I’ve always been committed to Australian rugby. I want to leave it in a better place, and that’s still the job,” he said.

“It’s not absolutely my decision. We’ve got a review going forward, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the review.”

Jones was asked whether he had a break clause in his contract that would allow him to leave the position early for a particular reason.

“Well, that’s not really for you to discuss, mate, is it?” Jones answered.

“That’s a private discussion between Rugby Australia and myself which I’d be breaking confidentiality if I said that.”

But when asked about the Wallabies’ disastrous World Cup campaign, where they suffered back-to-back losses to Fiji and Wales that left them needing a miracle to progress, Jones rejected suggestions he had erred in picking such an inexperienced team.

“I went to the World Cup, came in [with] a short period of time, had to make a decision on the team, made a decision we needed to go with youth. And, while the results at the World Cup weren’t the results we wanted, I think I’ve left the Australian team in a great position to go on to 2027. That judgment will be decided by the 2027 World Cup.”

When it came to the Wallabies’ results in France, Jones said the team hadn’t been up to scratch.

Eddie Jones on his old Coogee Oval stomping ground with Rugby Australia’s head of communications, Mark McCartney.Credit: AP

“We just weren’t good enough, mate,” he said. “You’ve just got to watch the quarter-finals on the weekend. We’re not at that level, and we can’t pretend to be at that level, but can we be at that level by 2027? Yes, we can.”

But despite the criticism and scrutiny that has followed Jones since his first team selection in August, Jones said he still had a desire to coach for Australia.

“I love the game, I love working with young players, I love seeing some of the young players maturing during the World Cup, and some of them [will] struggle, and that’s all part of it,” he said.

Jones said he understood the frustration of Australian rugby fans, but insisted he remained the right man for the job.

“I think I’ve got the foresight to see where we need to go,” he said. “I’ve got the experience of being in difficult situations before. This is not an unusual situation. You’ve got a team that was struggling for a period of time, you’ve got underneath it a system that’s not supporting it and at some stage you bottom out. This is the opportunity now to change the team, as we’ve started with picking younger players with bright futures, and then we’ve got to look at the development system underneath as well.”

An independent review into the Wallabies’ World Cup campaign will now be conducted, looking at factors such as how well-prepared the team was and whether they maximised the resources they had.

Asked whether he would consider quitting if the Wallabies didn’t improve, Jones said he had taken the job knowing it wouldn’t be easy.

“We get judged by our results, mate. I chose to be coach. We know we get judged by our results … all I can do is coach as well as I can,” Jones said. “There are other people who make those judgments [whether he’ll be coach], not me.”

Asked if he had reflected on his comments at a press conference before flying out for the World Cup, where he suggested the media needed to give themselves an uppercut for their line of questioning, he replied: “Probably need to give myself an uppercut, don’t I?

“I didn’t like the way that media conference was portrayed, and I am allowed to say that. It probably wasn’t the wisest thing to say, but sometimes you say things in the heat of the moment that you regret.”

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