OPINION: Stunning Jones resurrection shows rugby is heading the way of football

The stunning resurrection of Eddie Jones is the strongest indication yet that rugby coaching is fast heading the way of football in how replaceable coaches can be, even at the very highest level of the game.

Former England coach Jones, who was fired from his position last month, made an abrupt return to international coaching on Monday when it was confirmed that he would take over the Australian rugby team’s reins from Dave Rennie.

ALSO READ: Eddie Jones back as Wallabies coach after shock Dave Rennie sacking

Coaching shake-ups

This is the third major international coaching change in under two months, with all three coming less than a year out from the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in France in September.

Wales were the first to make a change when they fired Wayne Pivac and replaced him with former coach Warren Gatland, followed by Jones leaving England and Leicester Tigers coach Steve Borthwick being appointed in his place.

It was then a major surprise on Monday when it was announced that Rennie had been replaced by Jones, after it had seemed that despite a difficult year in 2022, the former had survived the axe.

Rennie had even selected his first Wallabies squad of the year 10 days ago, which means he was already preparing for the showpiece event and under no illusions that he would be coaching the team at it.

So what happened in the next week and a half since that squad announcement may remain a mystery, but it was obviously a big shift in the thinking of Rugby Australia’s bosses, who made the drastic decision to replace their head coach with less than eight months until the event.

Fickle nature

The fickle nature of coaching in football has always been a contentious talking point, with many often not receiving a fair chance to stamp their authority on a team before being let go.

Rugby now seems to be heading that direction as usually it would be unthinkable for a major international side to replace their coach less than a year before a World Cup.

However that is not the case anymore, as proven by Wales, England and Australia, and it will be interesting to see how all three fare in the tournament.

England seems to have made the biggest gamble, replacing a very experienced internationally renowned coach with Borthwick, whose highest coaching honour was as England’s forwards coach under Jones from 2015-2020.

It would have made more sense for Borthwick to be appointed after the World Cup and given a proper chance to build a team towards the 2027 event, but we will have to see how he does under massive pressure with just months to get a team prepared.

Wales and Australia by contrast have brought in seasoned veterans who will be able to hit the ground running, and shouldn’t cause too much disruption.

Although Jones abrupt arrival could have an adverse effect on the Wallabies setup, especially if he decides to make immediate and drastic changes, starting with the squad that Rennie picked.