Eddie Jones to leave Wallabies after tumultuous 10 months
Controversial Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has resigned from his position a month after his team’s woeful Rugby World Cup performance.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday evening that Jones and Rugby Australia had come to an agreement to part ways, less than one year into a five-year contract. Rugby Australia declined to comment.
Eddie Jones: Gone after less than a year Getty
The departure comes a month after the Herald reported Jones held a secret interview with Japan rugby officials about taking over as the country’s head coach in 2024. Jones has repeatedly denied he took part or plans to take part in an interview for the position, but well-sourced reports in Australia and overseas say he has taken part in the process.
On Friday, Jones said that his relationship with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan and chief executive Phil Waugh was “good enough”. But the revelations about a potential move to Japan, which coincided with the Wallabies’ worst performance in World Cup history, exacerbated tensions.
The divisive coach was appointed to lead the Wallabies in January for the second time in his career, after Mr McLennan sacked coach David Rennie. The Wallabies have won two of nine Tests since then. Jones was coach of the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, and took the team to the 2003 World Cup final.
An investigation into what went wrong at the World Cup had not commenced as of Friday. But the captain of Australia’s 1984 Grand Slam-winning side, Andrew Slack, will sit on a three-person panel to review the team’s performance.
In an interview with The Australian published on Sunday, Jones claimed he knew his time was up after the Wallabies’ humiliating 40-6 loss to Wales in the third game of the tournament.
He claims
Read more on afr.com
