Australian Eddie Jones flew into London today to finalise the deal that will see him take over as England head coach within 24 hours.
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Sky sources understand Jones is in talks with the RFU about taking over from Stuart Lancaster, who stepped down from the job last week in the wake of England’s disastrous World Cup campaign.
It is said that the Stormers paid as much as R15 million to secure the services of Jones, but as England’s new coach he could earn in the region of about R20 million, which is way more than the R5,5 million Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is set to be offered if he is to stay on as national coach.
I am bitterly disappointed that Eddie Jones only lasted a couple of weeks.
South African rugby as a whole – and not just the Stormers – really needed a couple of seasons of Eddie Jones’ methods seeping into the broad culture.
Jones hit the headlines during the World Cup when his Japan team pulled off the shock of the tournament as they defeated South Africa in the pool stages.
“No further comment will be made until we have final clarity on the situation”.
“How can you manage your players when they are controlled by other organisations?”
England forward Geoff Parling says the squad seemed united during the World Cup, despite reports to the contrary.
But after a World Cup which, for the first time, did not feature a northern hemisphere side among the semi-finalists, Jones said European nations had to address fundamental issues if they were to challenge the likes of world champions New Zealand and runners-up Australia.
Jones coached the Wallabies to the World Cup final in 2003 before being part of the staff of the Springboks four years later, helping them to the crown amid suggestions he’d sold out to an enemy power.
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Bear in mind that the Cheetahs will have former Bok utility back Franco Smith pulling the strings, and although he has at least been a backline-specialist assistant previously while veteran Naka Drotske was still chief coach, he only took the full reins himself with two games left of this year’s Super Rugby roster. He brought a lot of calmness into the coaching team, working together with Jake White in France. If it happens, the Stormers’ loss will be England’s gain.
