Bill Sweeney believes Eddie Jones will lead a rival at Rugby World Cup

Bill Sweeney admits he’d ‘be AMAZED’ if Eddie Jones was not leading one of England’s rivals at the 2023 Rugby World Cup… but he insists new coach Steve Borthwick will NOT inherit his obsession with the tournament

• Eddie Jones has been in contact with Rugby Australia chief Hamish McLennan 
• New England coach Steve Borthwick was originally lined up to take over in 2023
• But several defeats and boos ringing out at Twickenham fast-tracked Jones’ exit
• The Australian’s downfall was precipitated by prioritising the Rugby World Cup 

RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney admits he will be ‘amazed’ if Eddie Jones does not end up coaching one of England’s rivals at the World Cup.

Jones was sacked earlier this month after a five-hour panel meeting at Twickenham, with Steve Borthwick confirmed as his successor on Monday.

The RFU settled on a ‘six-figure’ severance package but there is no clause blocking the Australian from joining one of England’s opponents.

Bill Sweeney expects ex-England coach Eddie Jones to take charge of one of their rivals soon

Jones has already held conversations with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan and Sweeney admitted: ‘I’d be amazed if he wasn’t there. Who knows? Hamish McLennan said they are going to ‘weaponise’ Eddie. Does he go there as a consultant, does he go to the US, to Japan? I don’t know.’

Sweeney confirmed that Jones was determined to continue in his position until next year’s World Cup.

Borthwick had already been lined up to take over at the end of next year, but the combination of defeats and disharmony at Twickenham forced the board to fast-track the process.

Jones was relieved of his duties as head coach earlier this month after a disappointing 2022

‘The decision and the conversation with the review panel was all about performance on the field of play,’ said Sweeney. 

‘Having said that you don’t want to hear boos at Twickenham. No one likes to lose and fans are critically important to us. There’s a difference between running a business and running a sport. 

‘In business you have got your consumers and your shareholders. In sport we have got 1,900 club members of the RFU, 13million fans on record and hundreds of thousands of volunteers, so that relationship is important to us. So you never want to hear that at Twickenham. Was it a decision out of the review? No. But clearly we want to re-engage with the fans.’

Jones forged a ‘jam tomorrow’ reputation by prioritising World Cup preparation over immediate results. That led to his downfall and Sweeney is confident Borthwick will not get caught out by looking too far ahead.

Jones has already had a conversation with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan

‘You can’t have an obsession with a World Cup once every four years and write everything else off,’ said Sweeney. ‘The Six Nations is the best rugby tournament in the world. We want to win every Six Nations tournament and every game. Having that balance there is important.’

Despite being labelled ‘Slippery Bill’ by Jones’s adviser during the review period, Sweeney insisted there was no breakdown in their professional relationship.

Adviser David Pembroke accused Sweeney of briefing the media against Jones, but subsequently apologised.

Sweeney said: ‘As far as I am concerned a line has been drawn under that. There was absolutely no breakdown in relationship with Eddie.’

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