Eddie Jones became Australia’s head coach again in 2023 after being fired as England‘s boss. He had taken the England job in late 2015 following Stuart Lancaster’s departure off the back of a disastrous home Rugby World Cup.

Jones went on to lead England to the final of the 2019 World Cup, as well as three Six Nations titles. He is now back at the helm of Australia who he hopes to steer to World Cup glory.

Here’s a few facts and figures about the Australian coach…

Ten things you should know about Eddie Jones

1. Eddie Jones was born on 30 January 1960 in Burnie, Australia. He started his rugby career as a player, competing at hooker for New South Wales and Randwick.

2. He first coached his former club Randwick and had to leave his job in teaching to do so. Jones then coached the Brumbies, Australia, South Africa (as a technical advisor), Japan, England and Australia again.

Related: Eddie Jones on his coaching methods

3. At RWC 2015, Jones’s Japan team caused arguably the biggest upset in rugby history when they defeated South Africa 34-32. The victory was sealed with a last-minute try in the group stage.

He said of the match: “Just before the end I was screaming, saying, ‘Take the three, take the three (points for the penalty). I had coffee with Leitchy (captain Michael Leitch) the morning of the game and I said, ‘Look, mate, we’ve got nothing to lose. If you think we should have a go, have a go.’ And he did. That’s the great thing of youth.”

4. Jones coached Australia when they lost the 2003 World Cup final to England.

5. The Rugby Football Union paid a reported £100,000 to the Stormers to release him from his contract to become England coach.

6. Jones has said he wouldn’t be interested in becoming the British & Irish Lions coach in the future. He told The Telegraph: “Respectfully, no. I am an Australian and I don’t really have any connection to the Lions as such. I think it’d be better for someone from the home countries to do it.

“I’m also not suited to wearing a blazer 12 months of the year. Someone like Gregor Townsend or Andy Farrell would be better for that job than me.”

He did play against the Lions, though, back in 1989. He talks about it in this Eddie Jones – Life in Pictures feature.

7. He is married to Hiroko, who he met while teaching, and they have daughter Chelsea together.

8. Jones caused controversy with comments about Emma Raducanu during the 2021 autumn Internationals. He accused the US Open champion of being distracted by ad campaigns and the media. The backlash led to Jones apologising and contacting Raducanu directly.

He told the BBC: “The whole point was how difficult it is for young players to cope with distractions.

“So the point I made was not wrong. I can’t control if it’s taken out of context. There was no criticism of Emma (Raducanu). I have sent her a letter just to reinforce that and hopefully we’ll see her at Twickenham shortly (to watch England play).”

9. He was the first non-Englishman to be named England head coach.

10. Jones has released two books. The first, My Life and Rugby, came out after RWC 2019, and the second, Leadership: Lessons from My Life in Rugby, was published in 2021.

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