Eddie Jones set for dramatic Wallabies reunion – report
Eddie Jones is set for a dramatic reunion with the Wallabies
Eddie Jones is set to take on former side Australia in November for the first time since his departure as head coach last year.
According to reports from ROAR AU, plans are now in place for Jones’ Japan side to face the Wallabies during their tour of the northern hemisphere.
If the game does go ahead, it will take place on November 2, a week before Joe Schmidt’s side face England at Twickenham.
Wallabies reunion
The match would be the first meeting between the teams since Jones left his post as Wallabies head coach to return to Japan in December, and it could be a tasty occasion.
Jones’ second stint as Wallabies boss was a disaster. His team finished bottom of the 2023 Rugby Championship, losing all three games, but this wasn’t the end of it.
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Jones dramatically omitted star players Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley from his World Cup squad, opting to take just one recognised fly-half in Carter Gordon. At the tournament itself, the Wallabies struggled to find any form of note and were dumped out of the competition in the pool stage for the first time in their history.
Speculation than began to circle linking Jones with a return to Japan, and in December he resigned from his post with the Wallabies to take the vacant position with the Brave Blossoms.
“I’m very honoured and privileged to be announced as Japan’s head coach,” Jones said upon his Japan appointment.
“Having left here in 2015 and seeing the development of rugby in Japan, it’s such an exciting opportunity. Coming back and watching the development of League One, the health of Japanese university rugby and the general feel of how important rugby is to Japanese society now.
“When I coached Japan in 2015, we were a team that hadn’t won a game at the World Cup for 24 years and it wasn’t a team that the Japanese public loved. Now we have a team that’s loved, and rugby is a major player in society.
“To be part of the push for Japan to be in the top eight, or even top four of the world is an exciting opportunity.”
Since returning to the role, Jones has just one win from his first five games in charge.
