Rugby Australia and Eddie Jones have held preliminary discussions about a potential bombshell return to help the Wallabies win the 2027 World Cup on home soil.
England boss Jones and Wallabies mentor Dave Rennie are both off contract after the 2023 World Cup and it is understood that RA’s talks with Jones centred on a potential high performance, or director of rugby role, rather than as Australia’s coach.
Jones, 62, coached the Wallabies from 2001-05 and led them to the final of the 2003 World Cup.
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A return to the green and gold two decades on would be a remarkable story as Australia looks to re-assert itself as a true global power in the game.
The intriguing developments come after Jones reacted angrily to being labelled a “traitor” by a Wallabies fan after England’s series win at the SCG on Saturday.
And he has a fan in RA chairman Hamish McLennan.
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“Eddie Jones is a great Australian coach and has made a massive contribution to the game,” McLennan said.
“At the time the (Australian Rugby Union) decided not to give him a job, he’s plying his trade overseas, good on him. We should be proud of what he’s done.”
Despite a 39 per cent win rate, Rennie’s job is believed to be safe through to next year’s World Cup in France but all bets are off beyond that.
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“It’s worth remembering he’s about as proud an Australian as there is, Eddie,” former Wallaby Morgan Turinui said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
Events at the SCG underlined Jones’ notoriously fiery and combative nature but his intense coaching style has apparently mellowed somewhat.
“Eddie Jones may no longer rule the England squad with an iron fist, having agreed to his players’ request to ease off the intensity, to stop firing out 4am text messages and to halt the 6am training sessions, but his ruthless streak remains as sharp and brutal as ever,” The Sunday Times’ Alex Lowe wrote after the series win.
Jones also praised Australia’s development under Rennie during the three Test series.
“The Wallabies are definitely more organised,” Jones said.
“(Michael) Cheika’s teams played with a lot of aggression, a lot of passion. But, as a coach from Randwick, it’s generally more individual, less organised team (patterns). The Kiwi coaches tend to be better organised and they tend to play certain patterns and you see that with the Australian side now.”
Jones is spending the week in Melbourne with England staff to spend time with the Melbourne Storm NRL club and Melbourne Demons AFL club.
“I think the AFL is particularly good at communicating with their players,” Jones said.
“They have them for 24 weeks, so keeping the message fresh, understanding the relationships…
“Melbourne Storm are the toughest team I’ve seen, so we can always learn from them.
“So it’s great for us that we can spend the week down there and really try to improve our coaching because we want to get better as coaches.
“We’re asking players to always get better so we need to be role models so we’ll have a good week down there.”
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