Provocateur-supreme Jones returns to face his former England charges

LONDON, Nov 10 : Eddie Jones was a divisive figure in his controversial seven-year spell as England coach and can be expected to relish a role as provocateur when his Japan side play at Twickenham in the Nations Championship on Saturday.

Japan will be overwhelming underdogs against England but Jones has hinted he has a plan or two up his sleeve as he looks to spring a surprise.

"We’ll need to be able to break up the game, if we play an orthodox game of rugby, we’re probably going to struggle to beat them," the Australian said. 

"And the English don’t react well to unorthodox rugby. We’ve got to think about how we can play quite unorthodoxly," said Jones after his side pushed Wales in Cardiff last Saturday.

It was the kind of mischievous quote that Jones has used before to wind up the opposition, although it will be nothing new to England.

"We're never sure what Eddie's going to throw at us, so we're looking forward to that challenge too," hooker Jamie George said after they overwhelmed Australia 45-22 on Sunday.

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George was a mainstay of the England squad when Jones was in charge from 2015 to 2022.

"Eddie did brilliant things for English rugby. We got to a World Cup final (in 2019) and we probably live with regret that we didn’t win that, a Grand Slam, a couple more Six Nations – that is the sign of a good coach to me."

The bad times have been well documented since Jones’ departure with accusations of an abrasive and uncompromising coaching style.

Former England scrumhalf Danny Care in his 2024 autobiography said Jones oversaw a "toxic" environment and acted like a "tyrant" and a "despot".

Others, however, saw him in a different light.

“He’s a master of the psychological part of player development and man-management,”