EDDIE STAYS ON UNTIL 2021
. . . and coach can lead the Lions too
THE RFU will not stand in Eddie Jones’s way if the England head coach wants to lead the British and Irish Lions to South Africa in 2021.
Jones signed a contract extension yesterday to remain in his current role until 2021. The Australian, 57, had previously stated that the 2019 World Cup in Japan would be his swansong but he will now stay on to oversee a ‘smooth transition’ to a new England coaching team.
The RFU are hoping to appoint a new head coach in 2020 who will work alongside Jones for a year. Jones’s new deal runs until August of 2021, but that will not be a stumbling block if the Lions come calling for his services.
‘No, it wouldn’t prohibit him at all,’ said Steve Brown, the RFU’s chief executive, yesterday.
‘Bear in mind that we’re a quarter shareholder in the Lions and we’ll have some say in that too. Our view would be that if we’re planning for success, and we’ve come out of a very successful World Cup, and Eddie is the right coach for the Lions, the arrangement isn’t going to preclude that.’
Brown’s predecessor Ian Ritchie had ruled Jones out of taking charge of the Lions tour of New Zealand when asked about his availability in June 2016.
Brown, however, has adopted a softer stance. ‘We’re not ruling it out,’ explained Brown. ‘But it’s quite a way away and there are a lot of things to happen before then and it’s not entirely our say either. This is fundamentally about England but, no, it doesn’t preclude a Lions situation if it were to occur.’
The Lions board traditionally want their head coach to take a year out from coaching duties in order to focus solely on preparing for the forthcoming tour.
Sportsmail understands Warren Gatland is warming to the idea of taking charge of the Lions for a third time in South Africa to complete the southern hemisphere set having coached the Lions in Australia in 2013 and New Zealand last summer.
For Jones, though, winning the World Cup remains his sole focus right now. ‘I want to win it,’ he said. ‘If we don’t win the World Cup, I’ll be disappointed.’