London: Eddie Jones, former Australia and Japan rugby coach, has emerged as a leading contender to take over the vacant England job, with bookmakers slashing his odds after Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika ruled himself out of the running.
Both the Times and Daily Telegraph reported a dramatic drop in Jones’s odds of replacing Stuart Lancaster following several significant wagers in the 24-hour period since Cheika said on Monday that he was not interested in England as he was living the dream as “an Australian coaching Australia”.
Ian Ritchie, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive, said last week that England would seek to replace Lancaster with “proven international experience” and Jones is one of the few elite coaches in world rugby who comfortably fits the bill.
He led Japan to their best-ever World Cup showing in England, where they managed three victories, including a 34-32 win over the Springboks and also coached the Wallabies to the World Cup final in 2003.
Jones, who recently took charge of South African Super Rugby side the Stormers, ruled himself out of the England job last week when he arrived in Cape Town.
South African Jake White, who led the Springboks to World Cup glory in 2007, was the early favourite among bookmakers for a job that media reports claim carries an annual salary of 500,000 pounds (Dh2.79 million).
Cheika, meanwhile, suggested England ought to be thinking long-term as well as concentrating on recruiting a new boss after insisting he had no interest in the role as he already had his “dream” job.
Cheika confirmed on Monday he had no intention of quitting his current post in order to succeed Stuart Lancaster, who last week paid the price for England becoming the first host nation to bow out of a World Cup during the group stage — where they lost to both Wales and the Wallabies in the so-called ‘pool of death’.
Barely a year after taking charge, Cheika led his native Australia to a World Cup final where they were beaten by New Zealand, with the Wallabies having previously captured this year’s southern hemisphere Rugby Championship title.
Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie’s stated aim of having a coach of “proven international experience” to succeed Lancaster would appear to rule out several domestic contenders.
Cheika said there was more to coaching a Test side than immediate success. “As the head coach, your role is to do well now but it’s also to plant the seeds that someone else is going to benefit from further down the track,” he explained.
“I know that sounds like utopia but I believe that when you work that way, plan that way, you’ll get benefits in the short term as well.
“I’m no one to be giving anyone advice. I’m nobody. I just think you’ve got to build something from within,” Cheika added, before citing the likes of Gatland [Wales] and Schmidt [Ireland] as examples of overseas coaches who had enjoyed success in Test rugby.
