Eddie Jones has officially left the Wallabies head coaching role, with Rugby Australia confirming his departure roughly 36 hours after the 63-year-old broke the news himself. The Eddie Jones exit ends a second stint in charge that lasted just over 10 months — a remarkable collapse given he originally signed a five-year deal.
Eddie Jones Exit: ‘We Got the Smash, We Didn’t Get the Grab’
Rugby Australia’s formal statement, released on Tuesday morning, confirmed Jones will officially finish up on 25 November 2023. “Rugby Australia can confirm that it has accepted the resignation of Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones, and he will depart the position on 25 November 2023,” the release read, adding that announcements on the future of the coaching staff would follow in due course.
Jones, speaking to Channel 9 before RA went public, was characteristically blunt about his reasons. He argued that Rugby Australia had failed to activate the financial and political resources needed to drive real structural change. “Coaching a team is a bit like being in a marriage, you need commitment from both sides,” he said. “I don’t like to be in projects I don’t think can really get to where they need to get to.” His memorable summary of the World Cup campaign — “We got the smash, we didn’t get the grab” — captured the whole sorry mess in one sentence. The man has always known how to write a headline.
Phil Waugh Disputes Jones’ ‘Road to Nowhere’ Claim
However, Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh pushed back firmly on Jones’ characterisation of the organisation as heading down a “road to nowhere.” At a lengthy Tuesday afternoon press conference, Waugh insisted progress on centralisation and high-performance alignment was already under way, even though private equity investment had not materialised from recent negotiations. “I would strongly dispute that, because I do think we’ve got a very strong direction and a very strong vision,” Waugh said. He also drew an interesting comparison with Ireland, noting that the Irish have never passed the World Cup quarter-finals yet consistently win between tournaments — a model he wants Australia to replicate.
Meanwhile, Jones heads to Cardiff this week to coach the Barbarians against Wales, where he will come face to face with Michael Hooper — one of the players he labelled, alongside Quade Cooper, as “not the right role models” for the Wallabies’ World Cup campaign. He then travels to Japan to spend time with his wife. Despite multiple reports suggesting he has already held a Zoom interview with the Japanese Rugby Football Union and has another scheduled in November, Jones flatly denies any job discussions. “I’ve got no job to go to, I’ve got no job offer,” he insisted. BBC Sport and others continue to track those reports closely.
Whatever comes next, Australian rugby faces a serious rebuild. As our piece on Max Jorgensen committing to the Waratahs shows, there are genuine young talents worth building around — but only if the structure Jones demanded actually gets delivered. ESPN UK will be watching whoever takes the reins next.
