Eddie Jones has been linked with a return to Australia since his England sacking and has confirmed he has had talks with other federations; “It’s not about coaching an England rival,” he added. “I want to add to the game.”
Last Updated: 21/12/22 9:11am
Former England rugby coach Eddie Jones has confirmed he has had approaches from other federations since his sacking and insists he wouldn’t have done “anything differently” during his time in charge.
Jones was sacked earlier this month but has been linked with other roles, and RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney admitted he would be “amazed” if the Australian wasn’t coaching one of England’s rivals at next year’s World Cup.
Jones confirmed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’ve had chats with various people in various organisations about the possibility of joining their team in a capacity over the next 24 months.
“I’ve had chats with other federations.”
Jones, 62, believes he has “one more job” in him but said that coaching a rival was “not the most important thing”.
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“I believe I was coaching well with England and I want to continue coaching,” he said. “It’s not about coaching an England rival, I want to add to the game.
“As you get older, you just want to leave things in a better place and I just want to share the great experience I have had, particularly with coaching players and teams.
“At the end of the day, what we want to see is great games of rugby and if you have got the opportunity to be part of that you are particularly lucky.”
Jones has been heavily linked with a return to Australia, who he coached from 2001 to 2005. Asked about talks with Rugby Australia, he responded: “Never believe what you read in the papers.”
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It was England’s form in 2022, their worst in terms of results in 14 years, that saw Jones dismissed earlier than expected by the RFU after an anonymous panel of experts had reviewed the underwhelming Autumn Nations series.
But Jones said he still believes England were “on the right track” prior to his departure.
“I wouldn’t do anything differently,” Jones said.
“I was quite confident that we were on the right track, leading up to the World Cup. And I still have that belief. But if others don’t share that, then that’s their decision.”
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Jones was dismissed by the RFU on December 6 and replaced with his former assistant Steve Borthwick.
“I could feel the change in the wind,” Jones added. “You know, when you’ve been coaching for a while you feel when your support is starting to wane. I felt it was coming.
Jones left the role with the highest win record of any England coach on 73 per cent, but that number drops to 42 per cent in a dismal 2022 that consisted of six defeats, one draw and five wins.
A Grand Slam, Six Nations title and a World Cup final appearance were among Jones’ early successes, but post-Japan 2019 his win percentage dropped to 65.
“We had a plan to be peaking at the World Cup and unfortunately we didn’t get an opportunity to finish that,” said Jones
“I don’t have any regrets with what I did.”
