Rugby Rant: Eddie Jones shouldn’t coach other teams

EDDIE JONES is the Rumpelstiltskin of rugby.

Not in the traditional fairytale sense but, stick with it… the modern-day reincarnation in Shrek Forever After.

Shrek falls for greedy Rumpel’s powers of persuasion and sells the day he was born just to be a real ogre again. After signing the contract, Shrek’s world falls apart and Rumpelstiltskin becomes the King of Far Far Away. Twisted Mr Stiltskin then carries on attempting to do a deal with anyone and everyone.

Instead of a magical kingdom, England coach Jones has made Twickenham his own deal factory. And hiring himself out thanks to the shiny England badge has gone on for far too long.

Coaching All Black Beauden Barrett at Suntory Sungoliath, the Tokyo club where Jones is a consultant, after England’s joint worst Six Nations was the ultimate two-finger salute.

Related: Mitchell quits England for job at Wasps

Clubs like Newcastle Falcons have been wondering if Jones even knew where they were these past six years. But a trip to the other side of the world to coach one of the stars of England’s World Cup rivals never seems to be an issue.

Major League Rugby side San Diego Legion in the USA also signed up Jones as consultant. And there is simply no chance he gets a cushy gig like that without the red rose on his chest.

“Coaching one of the stars of England’s World Cup rivals never seems to be an issue”

As the highest-paid coach in rugby, the RFU’s had a shocker by not slapping a clause into the Aussie’s contract that bans him from working with other clubs.

If Jones is as great a coach as everyone tells us, then why aren’t the Twickenham pen-pushers getting him to take sessions with the stars of the future and the Red Roses? Why don’t they send him into Premiership clubs, their academies, the Premier 15s sides? Not Hull FC league side on a two-day consultancy basis.

Back in 2018, when it emerged that Jones had done a talk in Japan in which he called the Irish “scummy” and Wales “a s*** little place”, the RFU was furious. From then on, every cough, spit and splutter that came out of Jones’s mouth at public events had to be signed off by Twickenham first. However, they seemingly didn’t bother making sure that all of the coaching nous they have paid more than £4m for stayed in the building.

Gareth Southgate seems to do okay coaching just England football, and Sir Alex Ferguson made do with the one club at Manchester United. Why Jones can’t keep his coaching in-house is simply down to ego, power and greed.

England will one day look back at the sorry side story and scratch their heads at how they let their most high-profile asset get away with it.

Do you agree that Eddie Jones shouldn’t coach other teams? What else gets your goat? Let us know on Facebook or tweet @Rugbyworldmag

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