‘I feel sorry for Japan’: Sonny Bill Williams slams Eddie Jones’ ‘disgrace’

Following the Wallabies’ record defeat at the Rugby World Cup in September, coach Eddie Jones was asked repeatedly about a reported meeting with Japan to become their new head coach.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about mate,” Jones told a room full of watchful journalists at Lyon’s OL Stadium. The coach continued to deny the link for the months that followed.

But after stepping away from his role as the Wallabies’ coach last month, the Japanese Rugby Football Union confirmed on Wednesday that Jones had signed on for four years.

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About 53 weeks after Jones was sacked by the Rugby Football Union as England’s coach, before then joining Australia, the 63-year-old will return to the Land of the Rising Sun for a second stint with the Brave Blossoms.

Two-time Rugby World Cup-winning All Black Sonny Bill Williams has teed off at the incoming Japan coach by suggesting that the former Wallabies boss “lied” to the Australian rugby public.

“It’s quite sad, isn’t it? My thoughts on this whole saga is that he lied,” Williams told Nine’s Wide World of Sports.

“Obviously he lied to the players, he lied to the public, he lied to the Australian rugby union. What a disgrace. I guess that’s my first point.

“Second point would be, I feel sorry for Japan. His track record speaks for itself. I’m a big believer in the proof is in the pudding and what is his proof? His proof is he’s been fired, sacked from England in the last few years. He’s burned a lot of bridges.

“I actually feel sorry for Japan that they believe this guy is gonna take them somewhere where his track record shows that he hasn’t been able to do. It seems like he’s a little bit out of touch with what’s going on.

“I guess I’m just speaking from an ex-player’s point of view. I could never believe in someone that I knew was pretty much full of crap. Japanese culture is all built on respect, loyalty, things that he’s shown that he’s not about.

“If it wasn’t for the captain’s call, the great captain’s call that it was, he might not even have had a job before Australia’s disastrous World Cup.”

When Rugby Australia unveiled Jone as Dave Rennie’s surprise replacement at the start of this year, Wallabies’ fans rejoiced. Jones was supposed to be the saviour that the sport so desperately needed Down Under.

Jones took photos with passionate Australian rugby fans at the Sydney Sevens – they loved the then-new Wallabies coach, and Jones appeared to love them back. It was supposed to be the dawn of a new era.

Following months and months of headlines and a reignited rivalry with the NRL, Jones’ second stint with the Wallabies officially got underway with a big loss to the Springboks in South Africa.

But that was just the start. Argentina snuck by the Aussies in Sydney and New Zealand swept Jones’ men in a two-Test Bledisloe Cup series.

With the World Cup rapidly approaching, Jones made the questionable decision to omit veterans Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley from a youthful Wallabies squad – it didn’t work.

The Wallabies went to the World Cup and returned much earlier than expected, with the men in gold failing to make it out of the group stage for the first time in their history.

Australia only won two of nine Test matches under coach Jones in 2023.

“My last point would be, from an Australian rugby point of view; one of gratitude because we’re moving, we can move in the right direction,” Williams continued.

“We want to get back to where we are, which has been a rugby powerhouse and one of the few countries that have won two Rugby World Cups – an illustrious past playing on the international stage.

“They have great talent within the squad, I truly believe it. Phil Waugh has said some great stuff and what they’re looking at and trying to achieve now bringing everything under one umbrella so they can move forward in the right direction.

“I have my own thoughts and belief on the processes, some processes, that need to happen for that to occur, but it seems like you’re moving in the right direction.

“I work on Stan so I’m in this space, I’ve been in the space for the last three years and I have a good connection with a lot of the players and I want to see these players thrive on and off the field and hopefully they can start.

“Does he owe Rugby Australia, the public, an apology? I’d say they should be thanking him because he’s left and hopefully things can change.”