Hansen should’ve won, says ‘embarrassed’ Jones

Coach of the year Eddie Jones was at his brilliant best during the World Rugby Awards, saying Steve Hansen should have collected the coveted gong.

The Australian England coach admitted he was embarrassed to win the award, given his team isn’t the best in the world.

He went on to say his trophy would essentially become an expensive dog toy.

‘‘I must admit, I feel a bit embarrassed getting it,’’ Jones said of the award. ‘‘We’re not the number one team in the world. You know, I think Steve Hansen should be up here, but someone has judged it another way.

‘‘We want to be the number one team in the world and until we’re the number one team in the world we’ve got nothing to crow about.’’

Jones was then asked what he planned to do with the award. Would it be displayed proudly somewhere in his house? ‘‘I think my dog will play with it,’’ he said.

While Jones was playful during his awards interview, he did have some praise for his team.

‘‘The only reason I took the [England] job is because I thought they had very good players and there was just something a little bit missing,’’ he said. ‘‘The players have been able to find that by themselves. We’re only halfway through the project so we’ve still got a couple of good years to go.

‘‘We’re getting better. I think we’re on the right track.’’