It’s official: Eddie Jones confirmed as Japan head coach

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Tokyo: Ninety days after he first denied links with the Japan head coaching role, Eddie Jones has been told he will be the team’s next boss.

After impressing in his second interview for the job in Tokyo on Thursday last week, Jones was put forward as the preferred candidate by a selection panel and his candidature was ratified at a Japan Rugby Football Union board meeting on Wednesday night. He is expected to attend a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday.

It will be the second time Jones has taken charge of the Brave Blossoms. He had a three-year stint in the role starting in 2012 that included the nation’s most famous win, a shock 34-32 World Cup victory over South Africa in England.

However, despite his popularity in Japan, there were some misgivings about whether Jones was right for the role. Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity, because the discussions were confidential, said some members of the JRFU board had expressed reservations about the appointment.

But Jones was always a strong candidate, particularly given his close relationship with JRFU president Masato Tsuchida, who he has known since he first went to Suntory as an assistant coach in 1997, where Tsuchida was then coach.

Some Japanese media outlets have reported that Jones’ appointment was a formality and a “private deal” had been organised between the pair some time ago.

Eddie Jones has been confirmed as the next Japan head coach.Credit: Getty

South African Frans Ludeke, who missed out on the job, will be left wondering whether he stood a chance from the moment Jones came into the reckoning.

Jones’ appointment comes 45 days after he resigned as coach of Australia, following the Wallabies’ worst World Cup campaign. He had taken over as Australia’s head coach just nine months earlier and was contracted to the end of the home 2027 World Cup.

This masthead first revealed on September 24 that Jones had taken part in a secret interview with JRFU officials on August 25, weeks before Australia began their World Cup campaign in France.

The story rocked Australian rugby.

The Wallabies had a World Cup to forget in France.Credit: Getty

The interview was conducted two days before a Wallabies warm-up match against France in Paris. Australian players and administrators were unaware their coach had already started exploring his options beyond the tournament.

This masthead’s report was strenuously denied by Jones, both publicly and when he was asked about it privately by Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh.

Jones resigned in late October, citing systemic issues in Australian rugby, but by then it was clear he had eyes on Japan and had been quietly working to secure a return to the Brave Blossoms.

The 63-year-old, who moved to Japan permanently last month, said in an interview with Kyodo News on November 7: “If they [Japan] came to me and said, ‘Are you interested in coaching them’, I’d definitely be interested.”

Australia won just 22 per cent of their Tests under Jones this year and he has won just three of his past 18 Tests in charge of the Wallabies across his stints in 2005 and 2023. He was sacked as England coach in late 2022 after five wins from 12 Tests that year.

He began his second term as Wallabies coach by claiming he could lead them to victory at the World Cup, although he later admitted that prediction had been “crazy”.

Nevertheless, the JRFU believes Jones is the best man to take the Brave Blossoms through to the 2027 World Cup and has effectively poached Australia’s head coach, despite the countries signing a memorandum of understanding in July.

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