Eddie Jones (rugby union)

Eddie Jones
Date of birth (1960-01-30) 30 January 1960
Place of birth Tasmania, Australia
Height 5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
School Matraville Sports High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
– Randwick ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1987–1989 New South Wales 12 (0)
Teams coached
Years Team
1994
1995–1996
1996
1997
1998–2001
2001–2005
2006
2007
2007
2007–2009
2009–2012
2012–2015
2015–		 Randwick
Tokai University
Japan (Assistant)
Suntory Sungoliath
Brumbies
Australia
Saracens Consultant
Reds
South Africa (Assistant)
Saracens
Suntory Sungoliath
Japan
England

Eddie Jones (born 30 January 1960) is an Australian professional rugby union coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the England national rugby union team. He has previously coached the Australian national team during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and also coached the Japanese national team for three years leading up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup. He was born in Burnie, Tasmania, to a Japanese American mother and an Australian father.[1]

Playing career

Jones's playing career began at Matraville Sports High School.[2] He played as a hooker for Randwick and New South Wales. Jones played against the British and Irish Lions for New South Wales B in 1989.[3] He also made three appearances for Leicester during the 1991/92 season in England. He retired to concentrate on a career as a teacher and school principal.[4]

Coaching career

Early coaching career

In 1994 Jones gave up his career as a teacher and school principal to coach his former club Randwick. Then he went to Japan where he had brief stints coaching Tokai University, Japan as assistant coach and Suntory Sungoliath.

ACT Brumbies

Jones returned to Australia in 1998 to coach the ACT Brumbies. Jones had a disappointing first season only finishing 10th in the Super 12 his first season in charge; he has since said he was "way out of his depth" in his first season.[5]

However Jones went on to lead the Brumbies into the best period of their history. In 2000, the Brumbies were runners up, losing the final to the Crusaders, but in 2001 he coached them to their first title, the first team from outside New Zealand to win the tournament. Notably, while with the Brumbies, it was Jones who was credited with discovering George Smith while at a trial for a Rugby League team, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Smith went on to become one of Australia's greatest players.

Australia

In 2001, he coached Australia A to a win over the touring British and Irish Lions. This success led to his appointment as head coach of the Australian national rugby union team, the Wallabies, after Rod Macqueen retired. Under Jones, Australia won the 2001 Tri Nations. Australia entered their home World Cup in 2003 as third favourites behind New Zealand and England. They managed to upset the All Blacks in the semi final before losing to England in the final in extra time through a last minute drop goal.

After the World Cup, Jones was awarded a contract to lead Australia through to the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He also had an offer to coach Japan that was turned down.[6]

In 2005, the Wallabies suffered a spate of injuries, losing seven games straight. At the end of their European tour they lost eight of the last nine matches, with the scrum in particular struggling. After a 22-24 loss to Wales at the Millennium Stadium, on 2 December 2005 his contract was terminated as the Wallabies head coach.[7] While the Australian Rugby Union had ordered a report into the Wallabies after the season, including a review of Jones's position as head coach, it has been speculated that the Wallabies' loss to Wales prompted Jones dismissal before the investigation had even begun.

Post Wallabies

Just over a month after Jones was relieved of his position as Wallabies head coach, he signed a three-year deal with the Queensland Reds to take over as head coach after the 2006 Super 14 season. In February 2006 he joined Saracens in a consultancy role until the end of the season to help them after they were struggling near the bottom of the league.[8]

Jones endured a torrid season at the Reds in 2007, who finished bottom of the Super 14 table, only managing two wins the entire season. Injury spells meant Jones at times had to do without up to 8 regulars in his starting team, including the loss of influential Wallabies fullback Chris Latham even before the season started. His last match was an away defeat to the Bulls by a Super Rugby record margin of 89 points, which led to mounting calls in the media for him to be sacked.[9] His stint at the Reds is by far the least successful of his coaching career and he resigned after just one season in charge.[10] During his time at the Reds he was also fined $10,000 dollars for calling the performance of referee Matt Goddard "disgraceful" and "lacking common sense" after a close 6-3 loss to his former side the Brumbies.[11]

South Africa

Later in 2007, he turned down an approach from Fiji to be a technical advisor to the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, and instead was appointed by Springbok coach Jake White to be the technical advisor of the South African team at the tournament.[12] He was criticised by the ARU Chief Executive John O'Neill for taking up a job to try to help Australia's rivals.[13]

South Africa went on to win the World Cup and Jones was praised for his role in the success, with former coach Nick Mallett calling the move from White to appoint him a "masterstroke" and crediting him with improved backline play by South Africa at the tournament.[14] Jones was an official part of the Springbok coaching team, but because he isn't South African, he was not given a Springbok blazer - instead Jones wore his tracksuit, a condition in his contract with SA Rugby prior to being appointed.

After the World Cup, Jones rejoined Saracens, initially in an advisory role,[15] before taking over the director of rugby role for the 2008/09 season.[16] However he announced he would be stepping down at the end of the season due to "personal reasons", in February,[17] then quit early in March 2009 after disagreements with the board; he described the period as the worst he has had in rugby.[18]

Return to Japan (2009–2015)

After leaving Saracens, Jones rejoined Suntory Sungoliath in Japan. He brought together a strong team, including George Smith, Fourie du Preez and Danie Rossouw, whom he had coached previously, and led them to victory in the Top League title in 2012, winning the final 47–28 against the Panasonic Wild Knights, alongside two consecutive All Japan Championship wins.

Following the resignation of Sir John Kirwan, Jones was appointed in 2012 as head coach of the Japan national rugby union team, to lead them to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[19] Jones quickly took the team in a different direction to Kirwan. His first move as the Japan coach was to reduce the number of foreigners, who had been prominent in the Japan team under Kirwan, and to try and encourage the Japanese to play their own style. He also said his goal was to bring Japan up a level, to be among the top 10.[20]

Despite losing all three of his first Pacific Nations Cup matches by narrow margins, in November 2012 Jones coached the side to their first ever wins in Europe, beating Romania and Georgia.

In 2013, Jones led Japan to their sixth consecutive championship win in the Asian Five Nations, where they achieved a tournament record score of 121–0 against the Philippines. Japan later lost to Tonga in the opening round of the 2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, which was followed by a defeat by Fiji in round 2. Following these matches, Jones coached the Brave Blossoms to a series draw against Wales after narrowly losing the first test 18–22 and winning the second test 23–8. This was the first time Japan had recorded a victory over the Welsh.

On 16 October, Jones was hospitalised for 2 days after a suspected stroke.[21][22] With his release from hospital, it was announced that he would miss Japan's 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests against New Zealand, Scotland, Gloucester, Russia and Spain, and former Australia skills coach and that current technical adviser for Japan, Scott Wisemantel, would coach Japan in the interim for their 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests.[23]

In 2014, Jones secured Japan's seventh consecutive Asian Five Nations title, before jointly winning the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup with Fiji. Japan won the Asia/Pacific conference with victories over Canada 34–25 and the United States 37–29. In June that year, Japan claimed a 26–23 victory over Italy, which was Japan's tenth consecutive win, a record for a Tier 2 Nation. During the 2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals, Japan lost their series with the Māori All Blacks 2–0, but went on to secure an 18–13 win over Romania. Following this victory, Japan rose to ninth in the World Rankings, their highest ever position, and achieved Jones's aim of reaching the top 10 in the world.

In 2015, after securing the 2015 Asian Rugby Championship, Japan suffered three consecutive losses in the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. After beating Canada 20–6, they lost to the United States, Fiji and Tonga to finish fourth with just 1 win. Japan later went on to beat Uruguay twice and Georgia in World Cup Warm-up matches. In the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Japan managed an upset win over South Africa with a spectacular last minute try in their first pool match, finishing the match 34–32, an incredible victory with bold determination.[24] However, 4-days later, Japan went down to Scotland 45–10, despite still being in game at half time. A week later, Japan secured a record victory over Samoa, winning 26–5, which guaranteed a top 3 finish for Japan in the pool. In the final match of the pool stage, Japan beat the United States 28–18, which meant Japan became the first ever nation to record three victories in the pool stage, and fail to advance to the knock out stage.[25] That 28–18 victory was Jones' last in charge of Japan.

The Stormers

After completing his duties at the helm of the Japan national rugby union team at the Rugby World Cup 2015, Jones joined Super Rugby franchise The Stormers in Cape Town. On the 19th of November 2015, only 8 days after joining the Stormers, Jones was signed by England Rugby to become their first foreign head coach by replacing Stuart Lancaster. Due to a break clause in his agreement with the Stormers, the RFU paid a compensation figure £100,000 to release him from his contract. In November 2015 Jones became one of the highest paid head coaches in world rugby.[26][27]

England

Jones was named as the new England head coach on 20 November 2015.[28] He agreed a four-year deal to become England's first foreign head coach, that would see him lead the English into the 2019 Rugby World Cup.[29][30]

Jones brought in Steve Borthwick, who also coached Japan with him, from Bristol, and Paul Gustard from Saracens as his assistant coaches. The coaching team led England to their first Grand Slam since 2003, having beaten all their opponents in the 2016 Six Nations Championship. They opened with a 15–9 win over Scotland before seeing out Italy 40–9.

In Jones' first home game, he led England to a 21–10 victory over Ireland, before going onto beat Wales 25–21 a week later - at one point they led the Welsh 19–0, though conceded 3 tries in the second half. England secured the Championship on 13 March when Scotland beat France, which meant England was going into the final round having already secured the title. A 31–21 victory over France in the final game of the 2016 Championship, saw England win their first Grand Slam since 2003.[31]

He then took his English side to tour Australia for a three-test series against the Wallabies, which saw England win the series 3–0, this was England's first ever three-test series victory. In the first test, England scored their most points against Australia when they won 39–28. The second test saw England win their third consecutive match against Australia on Australian soil, winning 23–7, a record winning margin for a game on Australian soil. The final test confirmed the whitewash, winning 44–40. During the series, Jones had led England from 4th in the world to 2nd. During the 2016 Autumn Internationals, he led England through to their 14th consecutive win, 13 under him, and became just the second team behind New Zealand to win all their games in a calendar year. He guided England to a 37–21 win over South Africa, their first win over the Springboks since 2006. England later saw off Fiji 58–15, before beating Argentina 27–14 a week later. They finished the Autumn tests with a 37–21 win over Australia.

During the 2017 Six Nations Championship, Jones suffered his first defeat as English head coach when England traveled to Dublin in the final week of the Championship. They lost 13–9 in what could have seen England win their second consecutive grand slam and a record 19th consecutive win. England did however win the Championship with wins over France (19–16), Wales (21–16), Italy (36–15) and Scotland (61–21). In June 2017, Jones took a inexperienced side on a two-test series to Argentina which included 18 uncapped players 8 of which were 20 years old or younger. Despite this, England won the series 2–0 with a 38–34 victory in the first test followed by a 35–25 victory in the second.

Coaching statistics

Australia

Australian international matches as head coach

Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking Australia was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches

Australian record by country

Opponent Played Won Drew Lost Win ratio (%) For Against
 Argentina 2 2 0 0 100 41 14
 England 7 2 0 5 029 165 158
 France 6 3 0 3 050 140 139
 Ireland 4 3 0 1 075 101 64
 Italy 2 2 0 0 100 103 24
 Namibia 1 1 0 0 100 142 0
 New Zealand 11 5 0 6 045 201 246
Pacific Islanders 1 1 0 0 100 29 14
 Romania 1 1 0 0 100 90 8
 Samoa 1 1 0 0 100 74 7
 Scotland 5 5 0 0 100 164 75
 South Africa 12 4 1 7 033 283 267
 Spain 1 1 0 0 100 92 10
 Wales 3 2 0 1 067 73 47
TOTAL 57 33 1 23 058 1698 1073

Australian honours

Japan

Japanese international matches as head coach

Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking Japan was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches

Japanese record by country

Opponent Played Won Drew Lost Win ratio (%) For Against
 Canada 3 3 0 0 100 70 44
 Fiji 3 0 0 3 000 49 74
 Georgia 3 2 0 1 067 62 67
 Hong Kong 5 4 1 0 080 195 8
 Italy 1 1 0 0 100 26 23
 Kazakhstan 1 1 0 0 100 87 0
 New Zealand 1 0 0 1 000 6 54
 Philippines 2 2 0 0 100 220 10
 Romania 2 2 0 0 100 52 36
 Russia 1 1 0 0 100 40 13
 Samoa 3 2 0 1 067 85 46
 Scotland 2 0 0 2 000 27 87
 South Africa 1 1 0 0 100 34 32
 South Korea 5 5 0 0 100 300 58
 Spain 1 1 0 0 100 40 7
 Sri Lanka 1 1 0 0 100 132 10
 Tonga 3 0 0 3 000 57 82
 United Arab Emirates 2 2 0 0 100 199 6
 United States 4 3 0 1 075 121 90
 Uruguay 2 2 0 0 100 70 8
 Wales 2 1 0 1 050 41 30
TOTAL 48 34 1 13 071 1913 785

Japanese honours

England

English international matches as head coach

Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking England was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches

English record by country

Opponent Played Won Drew Lost Win ratio (%) For Against
 Argentina 3 3 0 0 100 100 73
 Australia 4 4 0 0 100 143 96
 Fiji 1 1 0 0 100 58 15
 France 2 2 0 0 100 50 37
 Ireland 2 1 0 1 050 30 23
 Italy 2 2 0 0 100 76 24
 Scotland 2 2 0 0 100 76 30
 South Africa 1 1 0 0 100 37 21
 Wales 3 3 0 0 100 73 50
TOTAL 20 19 0 1 095 643 369

English honours

Goldman Sachs

In November 2015 Jones was appointed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to the bank’s advisory board in Japan. The board comprises people from the public and private sector and was created in 2001 to advise Goldman Sachs on business, regulatory, and public policy issues in Japan. Masanori Mochida, president of Goldman Sachs Japan Co stated that “Goldman Sachs will benefit from his unrivaled leadership and his ability to bring together a multi-cultural team”[32]

Other honours

Randwick

Japan (as assistant coach)

Brumbies

South Africa (as assistant coach)

Suntory Sungoliath

References

  1. ↑ Daily Mail
  2. ↑ "Eddie Jones".
  3. ↑ "NEW SOUTH WALES B 19 - 39 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS".
  4. ↑ Eddie Jones: Meet England's new coach for Six Nations 2016
  5. ↑ "Eddie Jones eyes England and Japan vacancies".
  6. ↑ Gray, William (27 March 2004). "Jones signs new contract". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  7. ↑ "Jones sacked as Wallabies coach". BBC News. 2 December 2005.
  8. ↑ "Jones relishing Sarries challenge". BBC News. 14 February 2006.
  9. ↑ "Pressure again mounting on Eddie Jones".
  10. ↑ "Jones parts company with Reds".
  11. ↑ "Eddie Jones cops a hefty fine".
  12. ↑ "Coach Jones joins Springboks camp". BBC News. 7 August 2007.
  13. ↑ "O'Neill slams Jones for helping Springboks".
  14. ↑ Mallett, Nick (7 October 2007). "Eddie Jones gives South Africa confidence". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  15. ↑ "JONES BACK AT SARACENS".
  16. ↑ "Saracens turn to Eddie Jones".
  17. ↑ "Eddie Jones quits Saracens for family".
  18. ↑ "Coach Jones leaves Saracens early". BBC News. 13 March 2009.
  19. ↑ "Eddie Jones replaces John Kirwan as coach of Japan". The Australian. 27 December 2011.
  20. ↑ "Eddie Jones says Japan's goal is to be top 10 for 2015 World Cup". The Australian. 28 December 2011.
  21. ↑ "Eddie Jones hospitalised after Japan rugby coach suffers suspected stroke - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  22. ↑ "Eddie Jones released from intensive care after stroke but will miss Japan's Test with All Blacks". Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  23. ↑ Scott Wisemantel interim coach of Japan
  24. ↑ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11515927
  25. ↑ Japan sign off with third win of the tournament by beating the USA
  26. ↑ "Eddie Jones bids farewell to The Stormers and apologises for 'selfish' decision to take England job, eight days after being unveiled in Cape Town on a three-year deal". Daily Mail. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Eddie Jones signs as England’s first overseas head coach". The Telegraph. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Eddie Jones: Australian appointed England head coach". BBC Sport. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  29. ↑ "Eddie Jones named new England coach: live". Daily Telegraph. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  30. ↑ "Eddie Jones appointed England head coach by RFU". Guardian. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  31. ↑ "France 21 England 31: Eddie Jones promises more is to come from England after Grand Slam success". Daily Telegraph. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  32. ↑ "Goldman Sachs Hires England's New Rugby Coach Eddie Jones". Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Australia Rod Macqueen		 Australia National Rugby Union Coach
2001-2005 		Succeeded by
Australia John Connolly
Preceded by
New Zealand John Kirwan		 Japan National Rugby Union Coach
2012-2015 		Succeeded by
Japan Ryuji Nakatake
(Interim)
Preceded by
England Stuart Lancaster		 England National Rugby Union Coach
2015-Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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