South Africa win the 2023 Rugby World Cup
Former England head coach Eddie Jones has played down the suggestion that he could return to the team after quitting Australia. Jones is back in the UK as he leads the Barbarians against Wales on Saturday, just weeks after his Wallabies team crashed out of the Rugby World Cup at the pool stage.
Jones will officially leave his role on November 25 and has claimed that he has received no job offers, despite reportedly interviewing for the Japan job on the eve of the tournament. Even though England reached the semi-finals in France before losing to eventual winners South Africa, Steve Borthwick still has plenty of critics.
Many have been dismayed by the style of play under the former Leicester Tigers boss, although results have improved since a dismal Six Nations at the beginning of the year. Jones had a successful seven years in charge of England, winning the Six Nations three times and reaching a World Cup final, but insists he won’t be returning to the job.
“I had my go with England, I loved coaching England, but I wouldn’t want to be involved in the Lions – not at all,” Jones said when asked about coaching England or the British & Irish Lions.
Taking a parting shot after leaving Australia, Jones said: “Sometimes you have to eat s*** for others to eat caviar.”
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Jones did have a piece of advice for Borthwick going forward, however, as he advised him to play Marcus Smith as a fly-half as opposed to full-back. Smith was tried in place of Freddie Steward on occasion but Jones does not believe he has a long-term future in the position.
“At some stage you have got to take a bit of pain if you play a guy like him,” Jones said. “He is a good player, a very good player, but he is not a full-back. That is up to Steve but if you want to develop him as a player of course he has got to play 10.”
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Adding to the Up Front with Simon Jordan podcast, Jones furthered his perception of Smith: “He is reasonably good at club level but the media make him out to be a superstar. He’s not a superstar yet. He’s a promising young player.
“I think we will see over the next two years whether or not Marcus Smith has what it takes to go as far as his potential suggests he can. If he can stick at it for the next two years, he will get through it and these will be the most formative years of his rugby life if he can stick at it and not end up going to play overseas.
“If he keeps playing for England, then Owen Farrell will be coming to the latter stages of his career, so there will be an opportunity for him to step up and he can be a really, really good Test player.”
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