16 January 2023 , 09:24
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Eddie Jones took charge of the Australia rugby team and immediately talked about winning the Rugby World Cup.
Whilst his former employers at the Rugby Football Union slept soundly, Jones was handed the keys to power Down Under - and set on a collision course with his former team.
England are likely to face the Wallabies in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in France this autumn; England, the team that “dismissed” Jones presumably to improve their chances of winning the tournament.
It is a dream scenario for the Tasmanian - potentially, one of nightmares for the suits at Twickenham.
Jones said: ”It is a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to come home to Australia and lead my nation to a Rugby World Cup.
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“If we can have everyone fit and healthy going into the World Cup this year, I am confident that we can go to France and break the 24-year drought of winning the Rugby World Cup."
Jones, 62, says a lot of things, not all of which come to pass, but England fans up and down the land will be united in one thought today.
He couldn’t, could he?!
England are ranked five in the world, Australia six. Every time they look in the rear view mirror they will see the coach who took them to the 2019 World Cup final. Eyes blazing, fired up to prove a point.
Only Jones and his employers will know whether it is a coincidence the news was announced on the day Red Rose successor Steve Borthwick names his first squad, for the upcoming Six Nations.
Conspiracy theorists will doubtless subscribe to the notion that it was all about eclipsing England now, as a precursor to doing the same in Marseille on quarter-final weekend in mid-October.
Others might wonder why the RFU did not put their head coach of seven years on gardening leave until his contracted period came to an end post World Cup.
Jones during his first stint as Australia coach in October 2003 (PA)Jones, who previously coached the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, has replaced Dave Rennie and signed a five-year deal through to 2027.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan hailed his appointment as a “major coup” for Aussie rugby to lure home the “best coach in the world”.
He added: ”Eddie instinctively understands the Australian way of playing rugby - this represents an opportunity to secure a coach of immense expertise and experience at the biggest competitions, and we did not want to miss it."
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Jones starts his new role, which encompasses the Wallabies and Wallaroos (women’s) programme, this month. His contract spans two World Cups and the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour.
"It is going to be an immense period for Australian rugby,” he predicted. RFU chiefs will doubtless hope he is wrong.