No comment out of Japan on Jones rumours

NEWS: No comment has been forthcoming from the Japan Rugby Football Union regarding the rumours that Australian coach Eddie Jones is exploring a return to Japan.

The embattled future as head coach of the Wallabies has been thrown into doubt after an Australian newspaper report suggests he’s already looking for other jobs, claiming he had an online interview with the JRFU in late August about a return to the job he held from 2012 to 2015.

The Japan Rugby Football Union have refused to comment on the Jones rumors linking him to Japan.

“We have a policy that we won’t disclose any information about candidates (any name of an individual or selection status) until we finalize the announcement of the new head coach,” a JRFU spokesperson told Kyodo News just hours before the game in Lyon.

Current Brave Blossoms head coach Jamie Joseph will return to New Zealand after the World Cup.

Following Joseph’s announcement earlier in the year, the JRFU announced in a July 17 press release that it would begin the selection process for the next national coach after the tournament.

The JRFU said the project would be overseen by the JRFU’s Head Coach Selection Committee, which had engaged Odgers Berndtson, “a leading executive search firm with a proven track record in international rugby, to run the selection process.”

Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh immediately responded to the rumours flying around, saying: “I take people at their word and Eddie’s said there’s nothing in it. So, as far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of the story.”

The JRFU reiterated, “We won’t disclose the details of the selection process but of course, the project will be overseen by JRFU as we announced in July.”