Eddie blames the Wallabies strike on the failure of the CEO of RA – The Roar

As he prepares for yet another return to the international arena, Eddie Jones has reopened wounds, saying Phil Waugh failed to deliver on his promises, leaving him with no choice but to leave his post as Wallabies coach .

Amid a month of backlash following his decision to speak to Japanese representatives on the eve of last year’s World Cup, Jones left the Wallabies on October 29, less than a year into his five-year deal with Rugby Australia.

Six weeks later, Jones signed with the Japan Rugby Football Union to return as head coach, eight years after causing the biggest upset of the World Cup.

On his way out, Jones claimed RA failed to deliver on the agreement regarding key structural changes that the veteran coach saw as essential to the improvement of Australian rugby.

Those changes include a centralization of the professional branch of the game, which would allow the governing body to implement changes without needing the support of the states.

However, the inability to secure a much-needed financial injection from private equity seemed to be the last straw for Jones. It meant that RA did not have the resources to lead the sheep back to the station.

Eddie Jones has accused Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh (right) of failing to deliver on plans as his reason for leaving the Wallabies. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)

RA was left in stitches surrounding Jones’ decision to talk to a JFRU recruiting team ahead of the World Cup.

Waugh, who was less than six months into his first year as CEO, said if Jones had spoken to the JFRU about taking on a new role as head coach, he would consider it an act of betrayal.

He later said the Wallabies’ World Cup budget had ballooned by $2.6 million in unapproved expenditure.

While Jones has been vocal since his sensational decision to quit Australian rugby, which followed the Wallabies’ worst World Cup campaign, the veteran coach revealed for the first time that he went to Waugh during the World Cup to express his concerns about the government to express. the body’s ability to make promised changes.

When it became clear that RA would not fulfill the promises in his contract, he chose to walk.

“When they offered me the job, I said I would take the job, but we have to make changes,” Jones told former Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander in an exclusive interview with Code sports.

“My arrival won’t change what has happened to Australian rugby, so we had to change the whole high performance system so we could have an almost Australian version of what Ireland has done to make it simple.

“If our best players operate together at a high level for most of the year, then we would have our best chances.

‘That would require political power and financial power.

“In the contract I signed for a certain date, if they had not done that the contract would be null and void.

“During the World Cup I went to the CEO a number of times and said: this is what we have, we have already drawn up a plan, we have had a number of discussions, but you are not coming back to me. and tell me what’s going to happen.

“We went back to the Union, submitted another plan that cost much less than the first plan to use a custom, high-performance system, and they said no.

“It would have been easy for me to stay there. In the run-up to the World Cup (2027) you have a home World Cup.

“But deep in my heart I couldn’t do it because I don’t think I can change Australian rugby.

“Of course we could win more Test matches, if the players get a little better they will.

“But we will never have the significant change we need.

“I didn’t want a job where I was just doing it for the sake of doing it. I wanted to make changes and to make changes we had to change the system.

“The answer was quite simple. That’s when I decided to apply for the job in Japan. I had done nothing with Japan.”

Eddie Jones during a Wallabies training session at Stade Roger Baudras in Saint-Etienne on October 7, 2023. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Jones reiterated his position that he had done nothing wrong by talking to recruiters.

“A recruitment company came to me asking if you could talk to us about what Japan needs. So I did that and that was it,” he said.

“As a head coach you come across a number of clubs and they ask what we should do. You don’t apply and that happens all the time.”

Jones claimed he didn’t care what others at home thought of him. The events of recent months, including the decision not to surrender the rebels’ permit, revealed the need for RA to demand change.

“Honestly, I don’t really care what people say because at the end of the day, the only person whose opinion really matters is mine,” he said.

“I can sit back and say in all honesty what I said to you and that was the situation.

“I wanted to make Australia work and I wanted to change Australian rugby, but the circumstances were such that no one seemed determined to do it.

“We saw what happened this year. One team has collapsed, our best performing super rugby team in financial trouble, so something has to change.

“And it’s not the head coach.

“The head coach will obviously make a difference if you stay there for a while and I’m sure Joe (Schmidt) will do a great job.

“But there need to be more fundamental changes in the system.”

Eddie Jones during a press conference at Japan Olympic Square on December 14, 2023 in Tokyo. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)

Jones returns to international action on Saturday against England, who he took to the 2019 World Cup final before being sacked a year after the 2023 tournament.

The 63-year-old will name his squad to face England on Thursday afternoon, with his former assistant coach Steve Borthwick deciding to name his squad well ahead of the schedule on Tuesday.

Borthwick named Marcus Smith, who first brought Jones into his camp as a teenager before later supporting the prodigious playmaker to the hilt, at fly-half.

The Test will be a good opportunity for Borthwick to prepare for their crucial three-match series against the All Blacks in New Zealand.