Eddie Jones’s tumultuous coaching career has hit another low after Japan Rugby Football Union suspended the veteran boss for four matches and slashed his salary following “verbal abuse directed at local officials” during an Under-23 tour Down Under.
The 66-year-old Australian will be forced to watch from the stands, or more likely, from home, when Japan kick off their Nations Championship campaign against Italy in Tokyo on 4 July, capping a six-week suspension period.
The JRFU pulled no punches in their statement on Wednesday, confirming Jones had violated the organisation’s ethics and disciplinary regulations during the Japan U-23 squad’s tour of Australia between 1 and 15 April.
“These measures relate to incidences of verbal abuse directed at local match officials,” the governing body declared.
Contrition and consequences
Jones accepted the punishment without appeal, issuing a public apology that acknowledged his failings whilst the disciplinary axe fell hard on his coaching schedule.
“I accept the disciplinary action of the JRFU relating to the U23 Japan national team tour of Australia,” Jones said in a statement that marked a rare moment of humility from the notoriously combative coach.
“Some inappropriate remarks that I made caused discomfort to local match officials and other related parties. I would like to offer my sincere apologies to everyone involved. I deeply regret my behaviour and words and will make every effort to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
The sanction carries genuine bite. Jones is barred from any involvement in Japan’s select team fixtures against Hong Kong on 22 and 29 May, ruled out of the Japan XV clash with the Maori All Blacks on 27 June in Nagoya, and prohibited from the touchline for that crucial Nations Championship opener against Italy.
Between 24 April and 5 June, he’s suspended from all duties, a six-week exile that will test Japan’s coaching depth ahead of the inaugural Nations Championship.
The road back
Jones will be eligible to return when Japan face Ireland in Newcastle, Australia, on 11 July. Japan then host Paris in Tokyo on 18 July as the new tournament gets into full swing.
The timing couldn’t be more awkward. Jones returned to the Japan setup for a second stint in January 2024, reprising a role that had once brought him legendary status after masterminding one of rugby’s greatest upsets, Japan’s stunning victory over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.
That triumph catapulted Jones onto the international stage and earned him the England job, where he guided the Red Rose to the 2019 World Cup final before the relationship soured spectacularly. He was sacked in December 2022 with England’s form in freefall.
The Australian disaster
What followed was arguably the nadir of Jones’s coaching career. He took charge of Australia in what quickly descended into a 10-month catastrophe. The Wallabies limped out of the 2023 World Cup at the pool stage for the first time in their history, a humiliation that left Australian rugby reeling.
Jones didn’t stick around to rebuild. He walked out on the Wallabies and returned to Japan, where he has family ties and has spent substantial portions of his professional life. The move was presented as a homecoming, a chance to recapture past glories with a nation he understood and that understood him.
Jones has built a reputation over three decades as one of rugby’s most successfu, and most abrasive, coaches. His confrontational style has yielded results but also generated controversy at virtually every stop.
From public spats with journalists to pointed criticisms of opposition teams and officials, Jones has rarely shied from conflict.
