Guilt-free Eddie Jones denies early job interview in Japan
Eddie Jones says his Wallabies exit to join Japan sits well with him, the coach maintaining he hadnât been in talks for the job until after Australiaâs failed World Cup campaign.
Jones was unveiled as the Brave Blossomsâ coach in a press conference at a Tokyo hotel on Thursday night.
It was first reported in September that Jones had been interviewed by the Japanese Rugby Football Union in August, two days before the Wallabiesâ World Cup warm-up Test against France.
The Wallabies then endured a historically poor Cup campaign, bounced out before the quarter-finals for the first time.
Jones has continuously denied that the August interview took place, and doubled down again when pressed on Thursday, saying his first and only interview was this month.
Sitting alongside Jones, JRFU president Masato Tsuchida interjected to explain that a recruitment agency representing the organisation had initially contacted Jones, but only to ask for his advice on filling the vacancy left by Jamie Joseph.
âI didnât do an interview before the World Cup,â Jones said.
âI was asked by the recruitment agency to share my experiences with them on Japan.
âSome people might have construed that as an interview, it certainly wasnât an interview.â
Jones said he didnât feel âany guiltâ and that he left because Rugby Australia couldnât accommodate his needs.
âApologise to Australian fans? Mate, yep, I gave everything I could in that short period of time and it wasnât good enough,â said the 63-year-old, whose mother and wife are Japanese.
âI had a plan of what we needed to do to change Australian rugby. We werenât able to do that, Rugby Australia werenât able to support that.
âI decided to move on and I wish Australia all the best.
âI feel terrible about the results of Australia â I wanted to go back and change Australia.
âBut I donât feel any guilt at all about this process.â
It will be the second time Jones has taken charge of the Brave Blossoms, following a three-year posting from 2012 highlighted by a shock World Cup defeat of South Africa.
Axed as England coach in December, Jones was quickly snapped up by Australia at Dave Rennieâs expense.
But that long-term deal lasted just nine months, the circumstances around Jonesâs exit causing uproar in rugby circles and contributing to the ousting of Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McClennan.
âEveryone is entitled to their own opinion and I canât control their opinion,â Jones said of the backlash in Australia.
âThe only thing I can control is what I did, and it sits well with me mate, I donât have a problem with it.â
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