Eddie Jones: Test Rugby is ‘thriving’ but ‘we need’ R360 rebel league to fix the ‘problem’ in the game
Japan head coach Eddie Jones and ex-England centre Mike Tindall, who is one of the key players behind R360.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones has given R360 his stamp of approval and believes the proposed rebel league is just what rugby union needs to grow the game.
Jones, who is regarded as one of rugby’s leading coaches, is currently in his second stint in charge of Japan and previously had stints at the helm of Australia (twice) and England.
Four months ago, it was revealed that former England centre and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall was one of the key players behind R360, which is designed to take the game around the world and make the sport more appealing to a wider audience.
There have been numerous reports of leading rugby union and league players receiving big-money offers to join R360, and the rebel competition’s organisers have stressed they want to work in tandem with unions and that player welfare is their top priority.
International unions united in their opposition to R360
However, last week, New Zealand, South Africa, England, France, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, and Italy united in their opposition to R360, issuing a joint statement, warning players that they would not be eligible to play Test rugby if they joined the rebel league.
And on Wednesday, the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) also revealed that rugby league players face a 10-year ban from playing in their competitions, which includes the NRL, if they break contracts to take up offers from R360.
However, Jones feels rugby union will benefit from the introduction of R360 as it will drive commercialism and new audiences into the game as the business model at club level is unsustainable.
He believes R360 has the potential to make a similar impact to World Series Cricket – a rebel tournament established in 1977 that revolutionised that sports code.
“I think we need it, mate,” Jones told The Times. “You think about what World Series Cricket did for cricket.
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“It changed the whole game from being a drab game to being an exciting game that people wanted to get involved in. And I think that’s part of the problem of rugby at the moment.
“Test match rugby is that. But we need another level that’s an entertainment level that brings more fans and more sponsors and more commercialism into the game to allow our more traditional levels of rugby to continue.”
R360 has always indicated that it wanted to work with World Rugby and ensure all players were available to represent their countries at Test level. However, for that to succeed, the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship tournament would need to be held in the same window as the northern hemisphere’s Six Nations.
International rugby is thriving
“We’ve got to be really, really careful about how the game goes forward. International rugby is thriving, and so we’ve got to make sure that keeps thriving,” Jones said.
“I think the game is going to have to go to [aligned] international windows. Football’s been at it for a lot longer than us. And that’s the reason they have international windows, so they can separate their domestic leagues, look after the domestic leagues, so their best players play in the domestic leagues.
“We know in most of the countries now, apart from maybe France and Japan, domestic rugby is really struggling financially.
“Top 14 is doing well because of Canal Plus, and in Japan it’s the companies that fund the competition. But everywhere else the game is really struggling.
“We’ve just seen in America they’re down to, I think, six teams in the MLR. England’s been down to ten teams now. Super Rugby is running off an oily rag at the moment.
“And then, obviously, 360 sees a vacuum, doesn’t it, to step into domestic rugby.”