Eddie says he wants to coach in the NRL

BY RUPERT GUINNESS

Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has a burning desire to coach rugby league and is interested in returning to Australia to fulfil it.

Jones, who recently announced that he will quit as the director of rugby at English club Saracens after the current season, has not yet decided his long-term future.

The former Randwick hooker joined Saracens in 2006 as a consultant and later took over as director of rugby from Australian Alan Gaffney.

He will also continue his association with Japanese rugby club Suntory. He also has tentative commitments to tutor coaches in South Africa in June during the British and Irish Lions tour to the Republic.

However, the man who directed the Wallabies to the 2003 World Cup final in Sydney against England last night told the SMH of his ambition to one day coach rugby league.

He said he had not received any formal offers from English Super League club Wigan, as had been reported, nor from any English rugby clubs – although Wasps and Leicester are said to be interested.

But his dream is to coach in the NRL in Australia.

"I played league when I was a young kid and loved the game," he said from London. "I always watched the game pretty intently and still watch it.

"If ever there was an opportunity to do that I would jump at it because I think it is a fantastic game. It would be a great challenge."

However, Jones also spoke of his willingness to be a part of a Japanese Super team, if one were created as part of proposed expansion plans for the Super 14 competition.

"That is definitely a possibility," he said. "Japan is the market that could potentially take off the most."

He spoke of his concerns over the future of Super rugby, unless it underwent an overhaul.

"The expansion from Super 12 to Super 14, I don't think, has been successful," he said. "It might have been successful in generating more television which is important for the participating unions and franchises.

"But I don't think it has created a better competition, or attracted more supporters to the game. It has probably had the opposite effect. And the level of the competition, I think, has really fallen off."

Jones believes that the competition needs to be structured along the lines of the National Football League in the United States, where there are conferences and playoffs.

Jones also reiterated his disdain for the International Rugby Board's new experimental law variations (ELVs) that are being used in tournaments around the world.

"They make it more complicated for the referee," he said. "They have more to look at and are missing out on areas of the game. Defence is getting an advantage over attack. The whole idea of the ELVs was to give the game greater balance … and it hasn't done that."

Here is the full Q 'n' A with Eddie Jones:

RUPERT GUINNESS: Why are you leaving Saracens, where you are director of rugby, after this season?

EDDIE JONES: When I first met the owners in 2006, we set out a vision for the club. The ownership of the company has changed … and the club is going to move in a different direction. I feel that is not the project I want to continue with. There are also factors in [my] personal life. The next part of the job is probably another three or four years. I can't see myself putting those years into the club.

RG: There has been talk of the Wigan rugby league club being interested in you, plus English rugby clubs Wasps and Leicester …

EJ: There is a bit of interest around. I am not sure what at the moment. No club has officially approached me …

RG: What about the idea of coaching in rugby league? Many believe you would be suited to coaching league.

EJ: The only [Australian rugby union] coach who has gone [to league] is Alan Jones … I don't think we have a lot of similarities. I played league when I was a young kid and loved the game. I always watched the game pretty intently and still watch it. If ever there was an opportunity to do that, I would jump at it because I think it is a fantastic game. It would be a great challenge.

RG: Would you consider an opportunity in Australia?

EJ: Definitely mate, definitely.

RG: What about the Kangaroos? They are still looking for a coach …

EJ: [laughs] I don't think I'm qualified.

RG: But if an opportunity in Australian rugby league arose, you would consider taking it up?

EJ: A hundred per cent, yes … but I think the chances of that happening are pretty remote.

RG: What would be the biggest challenge in switching codes?

EJ: You don't have the knowledge because you haven't been involved in the game. Three things you have to do to coach a team well are to have knowledge; be able to communicate; and to manage players. The last two are coaching skills, but knowledge is the hard part. You are never going to know the game as well as a Wayne Bennett or a Gus Gould.

RG: Have you spoken with any league coaches about what opportunities could be there?

EJ: No … not at all.

RG: You have strong ties with Japan, with the Suntory club. There is continued talk of expanding Super 14, possibly with a team in Japan. If a Japanese team were admitted to the comp, would you like to coach it?

EJ: That is definitely a possibility. Japan is the market that could potentially take off the most. People have spoken about America, but their progress has been stalled. They haven't been able to generate the domestic competition they need. Japan, socio-economically, tends to support professional rugby. It has a reasonably vibrant top-14 competition. If the national side can start doing better - John Kirwin is doing a good job there - there is a real opportunity for rugby to become a major sport there.

RG: Have you been on any working group behind a proposed Japanese Super team?

EJ: About three or four years ago I was pretty actively involved in one proposal to possibly set up a team. But over the last 12 months, no.

RG: Do you think the Super competition needs to expand soon?

EJ: The expansion from Super 12 to Super 14, I don't think has been successful. It might have been successful in generating more television, which is important for the participating unions and franchises, but I don't think it has created a better competition, or attracted more supporters to the game. And the level of the competition, I think, has really fallen off. In Australia, we used to have two reasonably strong teams and one weaker team. Now you would have to say we have one strong team and three moderate teams. In South Africa, the expansion to five teams has been a disaster. The Lions and Cheetahs both keep putting their Currie Cup sides out. They don't prepare any differently for the Super 14 and as a result, they are not strong enough. New Zealand is the only country that has been able to keep a level of competitiveness reasonably consistent. The competition needs to be re-invigorated. It needs to have new teams, but broken down into smaller conferences, more competitive conferences, to get back the interest.

RG: Are the Wallabies in good hands with Robbie Deans?

EJ: The Wallabies have improved, but they were always going to improve. Post-2003 World Cup was always going to be difficult. Some young players were not quite old enough and some old players were a little too old. You [now] have a number of good senior players … [and] a number of young players coming through. Robbie is the right coach for Australia at the moment.He is doing an excellent job.

RG: Do you still have the ambition to coach the Wallabies again?

EJ: Not really. They say if you are lucky enough to coach a great side once in your life … I was lucky enough to coach the Brumbies, then Australia and be involved with South Africa. I have been pretty lucky to have won a gold and silver medal at the World Cup, win a Super competition, a Tri Nations and a Bledisloe Cup. I don't harbour any great ambition to go back and coach Australia.

RG: You have been critical of the new experimental law variations. What laws would you like to see put in place?

EJ:In the northern hemisphere, generally speaking, people are not supportive of the ELVs. There is a different view in the southern hemisphere because you are playing the sanction of free-kicks at the tackle-ruck. For me, the order would be to go back to the laws we had in the 2007 World Cup, but I would have one more referee on the field that would referee the offside line. That is the only change I would make and I think the game would be fantastic. The second best is the ELVs plus the free-kick plus an extra referee to referee the off-side. The worst is the ELVs minus the free-kick with no third referee.

 

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