England head coach Jones shrugs off NRL link

Eddie Jones fended off reports he interested in an NRL coaching role but is unsure how long he will remain England boss.

Jones has been linked with a switch to rugby league to take over at South Sydney Rabbitohs following England’s Rugby World Cup final defeat to South Africa.

Rugby Australia expressed an interest in appointing Jones for a second spell as Wallabies head coach, but it was told he is unavailable.

Jones is contracted to England until 2021 but the canny Australian gave little away when asked about his future as he prepares to coach the Barbarians against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday.

Asked about a potential move to the NRL, he told Sky Sports News: “There’s all sorts of stories at the moment.

“I saw a story about me going to France, stories about going to Fiji – which is definitely a lot warmer than it is here.”

Quizzed whether he would stay in his current role for the 2023 World Cup in France, he replied: “It’s not really my decision. As you know, coaches are contracted by either a club or a union and we’ve got to perform. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.”

Just two #rugby legends going for a stroll #Baabaas #rugbyunited pic.twitter.com/zHZyMnjypI

— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) November 12, 2019

Jones also stated that, in hindsight, he picked the wrong team to face the Springboks.

“To a large degree, it was just one of those games. Some games you get caught. They started the game well. Things came off for them, things didn’t go well for us.” he added.

“We got on the back foot and couldn’t get back on the front foot. If there’s one thing I could have done now that I would have done, I would have changed the selection a little bit.

“I continually in the World Cup changed selection from game to game – in hindsight, I probably should have refreshed the squad a little bit.

“I’m not going to talk about individuals now. I just should have maybe changed the order of the 23.”

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