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Why would Eddie Jones return to Australia when he can build a dynasty with England?


England boss Eddie Jones faces the media in Beppu after announcing his quarter-final selection (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
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A World Cup triumph with England would only motivate Eddie Jones to see out his contract and “build a dynasty” rather than return as Wallabies coach, according to Tim Horan.

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Jones’ side will meet South Africa in the final on Saturday, having engineered Australia’s demise in the quarter-finals before a dominant win over New Zealand in the semi-finals.

That run has led to widespread cries for Rugby Australia (RA) to prioritise Jones’ return to replace Michael Cheika as Wallabies coach.

It is understood RA have contacted Jones to gauge his interest, with the Australian currently contracted to England until 2021.

Horan said, contracted or not, a win on Saturday would give the in-demand coach plenty of reason to remain in Europe.

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“I think Australian rugby will look elsewhere,” the Wallabies’ two-time World Cup winner told Fox Sports.

“They definitely will ask Eddie Jones the question, ‘do you want to come back at some stage to Australia and can you break your contract?’

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“But you’d expect if you win this World Cup you go back to England and Eddie Jones will build this dynasty of this England team.”

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New Zealander David Rennie has been tipped to succeed Cheika, while RA are yet to announce the finer details of a review following the side’s quarter-final exit.

Jones’s least successful stint as an international coach came with the Wallabies, where he had a 58 per cent success rate, winning 33 of 57 games.

That tenure included taking the Wallabies to the 2003 World Cup final, he was sacked after a run of losses in 2005 and has since won a World Cup with South Africa as an assistant to Jake White.

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Jones also enjoyed a 73 per cent win rate as Japan’s head coach, including an upset victory over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.

As England coach he has only lost nine of 49 Tests at a win rate of 80 per cent, with Horan pointing to the side’s relative youth as a decisive carrot.

“They’re still fairly young. (Maro) Itoje is in his early 20s (25), (captain) Owen Farrell about 27 (28). They’ve got a team that can potentially go on to the next World Cup,” he said.

Rassie Erasmus had plenty to say at a mid-week press conference ahead of the World Cup final:

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Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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