Watch the tense moment Eddie Jones is grilled by Australian journalist over his defection to Japan as former Wallabies boss clarifies what REALLY happened before the Rugby World Cup
- Eddie Jones was grilled by an Australian journalist at his Japan unveiling
- Jones, 63, defected from Australia to the Brave Blossoms this week
- He clarified what really happened before the Rugby World Cup
Eddie Jones admits he feels ‘terrible’ about leaving Australia for Japan but insists he was not interviewed for his new job while coaching the Wallabies after facing a grilling at his press conference on Thursday.
Japan confirmed rugby’s worst-kept secret this week in announcing Jones’s return to the Brave Blossoms, despite the 63-year-old denying speculation linking him to the post on no fewer than 14 occasions.
Unsurprisingly, Wallabies fans are not impressed with the conduct of the coach who quit in October after overseeing their embarrassing campaign at the Rugby World Cup in France.
And at his unveiling in Japan, Sydney Morning Herald reporter Tom Decent – who has vehemently reported that Jones had been flirting with Japan while Wallabies coach – took his opportunity to scrutiny the former boss.
‘Konnichiwa Eddie, congratulations on the role,’ he began. You’ve denied links to this job all year, I think more than a dozen times.
Eddie Jones was grilled by an Australian journalist at his Japan unveiling
The former Wallabies coach quit in October and was announced by Japan this week
‘Can we just clarify when you first made contact with the JRFU and do you feel the need to apologise to Wallabies fans before the World Cup?’
Jones, who had received a warm welcome from the Japanese contingent of reporters on Thursday, bristled at the cutting question.
‘Well, I didn’t do a interview before the World Cup,’ he explained.
‘I was asked by the recruitment agency to share my experiences with them of Japan. Some people might have construed that as an interview. It certainly wasnt an interview.
‘The first interview i had with Japan was in December, and thats the only interview i have had.’
Reflecting on his short-lived stint Down Under, he said: ‘Apologise to Australia fans? Mate, I gave everything I could in that short period of time and it wasnt good enough.
‘As we’ve spoken about before I had a plan of what we needed to do to change Australian rugby and we werent able to do that, Rugby Australia werent able to help support that so i decided to move on. I wish Australia all the best.
Jones insisted that he did not interview for the job while in charge of the Wallabies
‘I feel terrible about what I… about the results in Australia, because I wanted to go back and change Australia.
‘I feel terrible mate. But I don’t feel any guilt at all about this process and I know you’ve been banging the drum fairly strongly on this, but I havent had an interview until December.’
Decent was permitted a follow up question and pulled no punches: ‘ To clarify, the Zoom invitation says ‘first round interview’ on it, so we can beg to differ on that.
‘On October 13 you said you hadn’t spoken to any recruiters or anything like that, the chairman of the JRFU last night confirmed that you had spoken to them before the World Cup, why were you being a bit loose with the truth there? Do you think Australians really believe that your first interview with Japan was only last week?’
Jones replied: ‘Well, I’m not sure what they need to believe mate. All I can say is the first interview I had with Japan was in December and that was it.’
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