Eddie Jones resigns as Wallabies coach after ten-month nightmare

The Eddie’s Jones era is officially over, with the Wallabies coach reportedly resigning his post just ten months into his five-year, $5 million-dollar deal.

According to reports, Jones and bhis representatives informed Rugby Australia on Friday that he was open to walking away from the Wallabies job, following Australia’s disastrous early exit from the 2023 World Cup.

Now, after discussions over the weekend, Jones and RA have seemingly agreed to part ways. The news is a major humiliation to Australian rugby after they sacked former coach Dave Rennie and hired Jones in January following his sacking as England boss.

Back in January, RA trumpeted Jones, 63, as the saviour of the game in Australia. In a “world-first”, Jones was appointed overseer of both the men’s and women’s rugby programmes, with free reign to deliver success in time for the 2027 Men’s World Cup and the 2029 Women’s World Cup to be hosted in Australia.

“Eddie instinctively understands the Australian way of playing rugby” said RA chairman Hamish McLennan at the time, claiming Jones was “the best coach in the world” and possessed a “deep understanding of our rugby system and knowledge of our player group and pathways will lift the team to the next level.”

But the second coming of Jones – he coached the national team 2001-05 – has been a shemozzle from the beginning. Jones’s sides first fumbled their way to five straight losses, a winless Rugby Championship and a 2-0 blackout in the Bledisloe Cup. At the World Cup, with a rookie squad ruthlessly culled of experienced warriors, Jones coached Australia to historic defeats by Fiji and Wales and an early elimination.

Ultimately, the Wallabies won just two of the nine Tests he coached – against rugby minnows Georgia and Portugal – as Jones fell foul of the press corp and rugby public with his strange selections (he used six different captains across nine Tests), bizarre tactics, left-field coaching staff and frequent tantrums at the media.

It has been rumoured that Jones already has his next job lined up, after multiple media sources claimed last month that Jones had a secret interview with Japan rugby officials about taking over as that country’s head coach in 2024. That interview allegedly took place just days before Australia’s pre-RWC warm up Test against host nation France, a game the Wallabies subsequently lost 41-17.

Just 11 days ago, Jones denied he had interviewed for the role or had any contact with the JRFU or any third parties and declared his loyalty to the Wallabies until 2027.

“I’m staying, mate. I’ve always been committed to Australian rugby and I want to leave it in a better place – that’s still the job,” Jones said at his first media call since slinking home from France. “I haven’t been speaking to anybody. My intention is to stay… but we play in a game where the coach doesn’t decide how long they stay.”