When Eddie Jones was sacked as England’s head coach last month, some assumed he’d move on to some “lavishly paid sinecure in the United States”, said Oliver Brown in The Daily Telegraph. Instead, the 62-year-old has “detonated a bomb under the Rugby Football Union” by announcing he’s “going home”. A “mere 40 days after his defenestration at Twickenham”, the Australian struck a five-year deal to replace Dave Rennie as Australia’s head coach.
Jones is not to be underestimated, said Owen Slot in The Times. After he joined a beleaguered England in 2015, they “won 18 games in succession”, equalling the men’s world record for a winning streak in toptier international rugby. He’s bound to give the Wallabies a “bounce”, which is why the World Cup is such a mouthwatering prospect. But even if Jones is a success in the short-term, that doesn’t mean the RFU were wrong to sack him. Jones excels at turnarounds, but has never been as good at sustaining success. “He builds successful campaigns, he doesn’t build empires.” And last autumn it was abundantly clear that his “England empire had collapsed”.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.