Eddie Jones agrees England contract extension
Eddie Jones and the RFU have agreed on a contract extension that will see the Australian continue to coach England until the end of the 2023 World Cup in France.
The agreement comes a week after Jones “immediately agreed” to pay cut in excess of £187,500 in line with across the board salary cutbacks being implemented by the RFU in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Jones, who had been earning in the region of £750,000 per year, had said at the start of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations that the players would ultimately decide whether he would be extending his contract with the 2019 World Cup finalists through to the next tournament in France.
“The players tell you whether you should continue or not and that’s what I’m looking it. The players will let me know,” he said at the start of a campaign where an opening round defeat away to France was followed by a win at Scotland and home victories over Ireland and Wales to clinch the Triple Crown. England’s remaining game away to Italy was postponed due to the virus outbreak.
Speaking on Thursday after agreeing to take the team through to 2023, Jones said: “The extension is a great honour for me, but in the current environment, it is only right to acknowledge what a difficult time the world is facing. We are all looking forward to a time when we can get back to playing rugby and use the sport as a force for good in bringing people back together.
“I never thought coming here four years ago I would be doing a second four years but the circumstances are right. Obviously, it is important for the team that we keep improving and my focus will be solely on that. I’m excited about raising the standards again. We have a great team. We set out four years ago to be the best team in the world and unfortunately we missed that by 80 minutes.
“Now we want to be the team that is remembered as being the greatest team the game has ever seen. It’s a big ambition but I believe we are capable of doing it. We have players with an enhanced reputation, we have a team that is expected to do well, so it’s a great opportunity for us to keep moving forward.”
Jones joined England at the end of 2015 and has coached his side on 54 occasions winning 42, drawing one and losing eleven – giving him a win ratio of 78 per cent, the highest in the history of England coaches.
England have won two Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam in 2016, and a 3-0 away Test series win against Australia in the same year. They also registered an unbeaten run of 18 matches, equalling New Zealand’s record, and were finalists at last year’s World Cup in Japan, losing to South Africa in the decider.
RFU CEO Bill Sweeney said: “My thoughts and those of all of us at the RFU are with everyone impacted by Covid-19, both across the country at large but also within our own rugby union community.
“In exceptionally difficult times, we are pleased to be sharing some good news. We are delighted that Eddie will continue as head coach to run England’s campaign to take us to the 2023 World Cup. His record since joining speaks for itself and he has proven why he is one of the best coaches in world rugby.
“The progress shown by England since 2015 has been indisputable and having fielded the youngest-ever team to play in a World Cup final, we know even more growth is possible. We are all excited by what this squad can do and having Eddie leading the team is very important to us.
Always plotting ?https://t.co/Zfdn2RtkUx
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“We reached an understanding soon after returning from Japan but there were some things that we wanted to make sure worked for both sides.
“We have announced Eddie’s contract extension a few weeks later than planned as our focus was diverted to support the English rugby community during this difficult time, we are now turning our attention to developing plans to support the rebooting of rugby and a winning England team will provide a vital role in that.”
Ahead of the Guinness Six Nations, Jones confirmed Simon Amor and Matt Proudfoot would join Steve Borthwick and John Mitchell as his assistant coaches. Jason Ryles will join later in the year as skills coach following Borthwick’s departure towards the end of the season.
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Comments on RugbyPass
I’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
3 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
1 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
85 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
2 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
3 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
85 Go to commentsHas this guy been dope tested? Sounds like a case of “roid rage”.
1 Go to commentsI would like to see him say that to Eben face to face in a dark alley.
85 Go to commentsYep, lost in translation. There are arrogant people in Ireland, yes. As there are arrogant people in every country, but as a nation, arrogance is not a general characteristic in Ireland. There has not really had a strong representation for any global sport over the years, and hence arrogance is not endemic to Irish people in this regard. I seriously doubt that was said or meant by 12 or 13 players. If it was said, it would have been said in jest and to pay Etzebeth and the Springboks a compliment for how hard fought the game was.
85 Go to commentsOne of the few Bidwell articles I can agree with. If coaches played their players through niggles and consistently played them 80mins then you could make an argument for resting protocols - they obviously don’t and are incredibly responsible, let’s give up the resting nonsense and let the boys play.
4 Go to commentsDaniel Gallan, please for the love of all that is holy, stop writing about rugby. Or at the very least stop telling people you are South African.
21 Go to commentsThis Dr.Rassie 6-2 filth is spreading. We need to ask World Rugby to ban something
1 Go to comments