Newly appointed Wallabies coach Eddie Jones is thrilled at the chance to return to Australia and believes he has enough time to help the men in gold win this year’s Rugby World Cup.
Rugby Australia dropped a bombshell on Monday morning by announcing that Kiwi Dave Rennie had been sacked with immediate effect following three years of mediocre results.
Jones, who coached the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, will begin as Wallabies coach on January 29. He will also double as a director of rugby for the Wallaroos program.
Speaking to Karl Stefanovic on Channel Nine’s Today, Jones said he was excited about the prospect of a homecoming to Australian rugby.
Jones was sacked as Wallabies coach in 2005 before an unsuccessful stint with the Queensland Reds in 2007.
Since then, Jones helped Japan beat South Africa at the 2015 World Cup before coaching England to a World Cup final in 2019.
Eddie Jones speaks during England’s tour of Australia last year. Credit:James Brickwood
“It’s a fantastic opportunity,” Jones said. “It wasn’t so much satisfaction but it was nice to get the opportunity to get another go at the Wallabies and help lift Australian rugby back where we’d like it to be. That’s a good feeling but there is a lot of work to do.
“We’re all going to have to get in from the community clubs to the local clubs to Super Rugby and get the Wallabies winning again.”
The Wallabies’ World Cup campaign begins in seven months and 24 days with a clash against Georgia in Paris on September 9.
Jones’s first Test in charge will be against the Springboks in Pretoria on July 8.
He is adamant there is enough time to help turn Australia into World Cup hopefuls.
“I think we’ve got plenty of time,” Jones said. “[Former Wallabies coach] Bob Dwyer, who won the World Cup in 1991, always used to say ‘if you can’t change a team in a week, you can’t coach’. We’ve got more than a week, so let’s hope I can coach.”
Jones said he wanted to restore the health of rugby in Australia in a broader sense.
“Certainly in the first instance [my focus] will be the Wallabies but I’d like to play a role in that, having had a fair bit of experience around the world,” Jones said. “There are a lot of systems that we can look to customise for Australia to help make sure that talent pool comes through. There are a lot of talented players. Like most countries, it’s how you bring that talent through to the top level.”
Meanwhile, England coach Steve Borthwick said he wished Jones the very best in his new role.
Borthwick worked under Jones as an England assistant coach before replacing the Australian in December following his sacking.
“I am delighted for him to go and coach his home country,” Borthwick told the talkSPORT podcast.
“The day I was announced as England head coach, he sent me a message wishing me the very best. This morning, I sent him a message wishing him the very best.
Asked about a potential match-up with the Wallabies at the World Cup later this year, Borthwick said: “It is a really exciting year with the World Cup round the corner and I think we are all excited about it.”
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