Australia weigh up shock move for Eddie Jones

England head coach Eddie Jones could be in line for an emotional homecoming with sources close to Rugby Australia suggesting that he has emerged as a target after the next World Cup.

Jones, who masterminded another series victory against the land of his birth, will step down as England’s longest serving head coach after the 2023 World Cup and will not be short of job offers. The 62-year-old already holds a role as director of rugby of Suntory Sungoliath in Japan and has been linked to roles to coaching positions in the Top 14.

However, it is known that Rugby Australia is keen to recapture lost intellectual property such as Jones, who was Wallabies head coach from 2001 to 2005. That coincided with the last golden age of Australian rugby when they held the Bledisloe Cup and reached the 2003 World Cup final playing a free-flowing brand of rugby.

Jones described being sacked as Australia head coach as the most painful episode in his career, but he revelled being back around his old haunts in Sydney last week despite the unsavoury interaction with a supporter who called him a “traitor” at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

With the Wallabies hosting the Lions tour in 2025 and the men’s World Cup in 2027, chairman Hamish McLennan is aiming to put rugby union back on the map in a sporting marketplace where it has been crowded out by rugby league and Aussie rules. Jones last week decried the lack of attention the series received in the Australian media.

Telegraph Sport understands that preliminary contact has been made with Jones’ representatives, but he will not be drawn on what his plans are. It is also unclear what role would be available. John O’Neill, his former boss at Rugby Australia, believes that he could operate as a director