Rugby Australia in talks with sacked England coach Jones

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan and Eddie Jones had phone discussions this weekend, a report said Sunday, with the governing body keen to entice the sacked England coach home.

The veteran Australian boss was terminated by the Rugby Football Union last week just nine months out from next year’s World Cup, paying the price for presiding over England’s worst year since 2008.

Calls have been mounting in Australia to bring Jones home, with Wallabies coach Dave Rennie under increasing pressure after a year of only five wins from 14 matches.

“Actually I spoke to him yesterday,” McLennan told the Sydney Morning Herald of Jones. 

“It’s all pretty high-level and it’s about really getting a sense of where his head is at given the drama of last week.”

According to the newspaper, no formal offers were discussed and McLennan declined to comment on whether he favoured a role for Jones in 2023 or after the World Cup in 2024.

Jones has been flagged as a potential replacement to steer the Wallabies through a British and Irish Lions tour in 2025 and a home World Cup two years later.

“You’d be crazy not to think how we could use that brain of his but I know Eddie has a lot of offers out there,” McLennan said.

Jones told the newspaper “nothing is off the table”.

“As for my next step, well I think everyone knows I love a scrap and I’m up for whatever challenge is next,” he said.

“I’m open to looking at everything in rugby and I’ve made no secret of my wish to give the NRL (National Rugby League) a go, too. Nothing is off the table. Nothing.”