SAINT-ETIENNE: Former Test stars are urging Wallabies coach Eddie Jones to give a direct answer on his dealings with Japan as the ugly fallout from the failed Rugby World Cup campaign continues.
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that Jones interviewed for the Japan coaching job before the World Cup and he has not explicitly denied those claims.
"I think Eddie needs to directly come out and say 'no, I didn't do a Zoom interview with Japan' or 'yes, I did'," former Wallabies back Morgan Turinui said on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts.
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"We need to know… that he is truly committed."
All Blacks great Andrew Mehrtens described it as a "horrific" look.
"The timing of it just looks horrible," Mehrtens said.
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"He's coming in again with that patriotic sort of flag waving and… until people know, they're going to assume or speculate, that, yeah, it might have been about jumping ship sooner than that (2027) and going there (Japan), which looks awful in the context."
Jones signed a five-year deal with Rugby Australia in January after being head hunted by chairman Hamish McLennan.
He has won just one of seven Tests in charge and the Wallabies are set to miss the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
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"He has a standing offer to go back there (Japan), has had for years," Turinui said.
"Maybe it has hurt more because of… the sort of parochial nature of the appointment. In the last six months (Jones) donned the Akubra, put the R.Ms on, talked about being Australian, what it means to be Australian, going to Arnhem Land. And so maybe that feels more like a betrayal than a coach discussing what other options there might be, if we hadn't gone down that whole narrative.
"It's gone from smash and grab… it's been chaotic the way the media has been dealt with, the way the World Cup campaign has been discussed and presented and selected and players were informed.
"It's the least organised I've ever seen an Eddie Jones environment."
Jones infamously admonished reporters at Sydney Airport before the World Cup, telling them to give themselves "uppercuts" after a perceived "negative" line of questioning.
"There's been some really bizarre things this year and some of it I thought maybe it's entertainment, maybe there's a strategy there," Turinui said.
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Turinui played under Jones, as did Stephen Hoiles, who also urged Jones to shed more light on the damaging Japan links.
"I think we're owed the right to find out what the truth is because there's two sides of the story here at the moment," champion Randwick coach Hoiles said on Stan Sport's RWC 2023 Central.
"I think once the truth comes out, I think that's when it's time to make your decision on who is best to lead the country, based on the results and the fact that he (Jones) picked a young squad and none of us were overly confident that we were going to be successful with that squad.
"The squad that Dave Rennie had, I think would have done a much better job at this World Cup, but Eddie tried to make significant change.
"Sure, it's all backfired. He's done it. He's rushed things. He hasn't been able to make the changes that we needed in a short period of time, but he's on a long-term contract and the game can't afford to be paying out any other coaches…
"I'd really like to sit back and let the dust settle and get this campaign out of the way and then find out what actually is going on because for the last 10 years he's (Jones) been involved heavily with Japanese rugby union.
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"He's still director of rugby at Suntory (Sungoliath), has been the whole time…
"We don't know if this Zoom meeting was purely for his aspirations to coach Japan or was he simply taking calls to help them find a coach?
"We don't know yet. And you know, I can understand why the CEO has to say 'I'm backing the coach' because that's what the coach is saying at the moment. We'll get to the bottom of it. As rugby supporters, we deserve to get to the bottom of it."
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