These are the latest rugby headlines on Tuesday, October 17.
Jones to come clean on future
Australia boss Eddie Jones is set to come clean about his coaching future after being heavily linked with a return to the Japan job.
The Wallabies’ horrific World Cup campaign, which saw them eliminated at the pool stage, was made worse by rife speculation that Jones had held talks with the Brave Blossoms just weeks before the start of the tournament, with reports in Japan suggesting he is set to attend a job interview next month.
The 63-year-old – who signed a $5 million deal at the end of last year to lead the Wallabies into the 2027 World Cup – has now been urged to tell to truth about his future as he faces the Australian media today. Get the latest World Cup news by signing up to our newsletter here
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Australian rugby legend Mark Ella, a close friend of Jones, said he expected the former England coach to stay for the remainder of his contract, but urged him to be open with fans regardless of his decision, MailOnline reports.
Addressing the Japan links, Ella said: “I found that strange. You don’t come from England to Australia, and then within six months you’re looking at another job.
“I don’t know. We’ll all know soon. He’ll face the Australian media (on Tuesday). He’s got to be honest and tell the media and rugby supporters exactly what’s going on.’
‘It probably would be (a bad look to walk away),” he added. “But I can’t talk on Eddie’s behalf. I’m hoping he meets the press, tells them the truth, that he will be here another four or five years.’
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Springboks wary of Welshman’s influence
South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus says his side are wary of their semi-final opponents England due largely to the influence of a Welsh coach.
Carmarthen-born Aled Walters, who is now England’s head of strength conditioning, is well known to the Springbok coaches and playing squad having helped them to World Cup glory in Japan four years ago as part of their set-up.
And the impact the fitness guru had on the Boks squad has not been forgotten, with Erasmus fully aware of the work he will have put Steve Borthwick’s side through ahead of their clash in Paris, a rematch of the 2019 final.
“We know how fit Aled will have them and some of our players play in the Premiership, but over and above that Steve [Borthwick] is a good coach,'” he said. “It’s going to be a very tough test against a team that hasn’t lost a game.
“If you look at England and South Africa statistically, they are very close in terms of the number of tries scored and conceded and in terms of defence. We know this is definitely going to be a close match.”
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Welsh coach to stay on
Former Wales captain Kingsley Jones has signed a two-year contract extension as head coach of Canada that will see him lead the team through 2025.
The ex-Dragons boss joined the Canadian national team in 2017 and led them to the last World Cup in Japan, but failed to seal qualification for this year’s tournament, the first time they have missed out on the sport’s showcase.
But despite the disappointment, Rugby Canada has shown faith in Jones by rewarding him with an extension and entrusting him with leading the team back to the World Cup.
“We recognize that it is disappointing not to see Canada in the Rugby World Cup this year,” said Rugby Canada CEO Nathan Bombrys. “We need to make significant improvements and rebuild our program to see our Canadian team back knocking on the doors of the very top rugby nations.
“Considerable building work has already begun, but there are lots of elements that need to be put into place. We need regular fixtures and consistent competition for our national team squad, in addition to quality training and coaching.
“We believe that Kingsley is the right head coach for this next stage in our journey, providing consistency to our program and continuing the work started in developing our squad.”
After his extension was confirmed, Jones said: “I am excited for the opportunity to continue building with this team. A lot of the dedicated, hard-working young players we’ve worked with over the last six years are now 26, 27, and reaching their prime, and I’m excited to see them fulfil their potential.
“Having depth, raising and driving standards, pushing each other on, is very important to being competitive. It’s a great honour to coach for Canada and to have this opportunity to continue building cohesion and continuity with this young group to put us in a good spot for 2025.”
Ireland legend considers retirement
Ireland star Peter O’Mahony has admitted he will consider retiring from international rugby after his side were dumped out of the World Cup by New Zealand.
The 34-year-old flanker started all five games for Andy Farrell’s men in France and saw out the full 80 minutes as Ireland were narrowly beaten 28-24 defeat by the All Blacks at the Stade de France.
However, it could prove to be the final time he pulls on an Irish jersey, as he hinted he could soon join captain Johnny Sexton and winger Keith Earls in retiring from the game following their tournament heartbreak.
“Will I come back? We’ll see,” O’Mahony said after Ireland’s exit was confirmed. “It’s a tough one to take as a lot of my friends won’t be back. So I’ve got a contract to the end of the year and we’ll see how we go after that.”
“It is the end of an era, it is. You’ve got a group of senior players who are moving on. There’s no other way of putting it. There’s a group of guys who won’t play for Ireland again who’ve had an incredible impact on Irish rugby, not only in the last few years but in the last decade. So absolutely, it is the end of an era, yeah.”
“It’s tough to lose these guys in these tough circumstances,” he added. “I’ve spent a lot of time with (Earls) and Johnny, obviously. Probably every one of my caps had one or two of them in it if not all of them. It’s tough to lose fellas like that – big characters, big players for us.
“Most importantly, big people, the best type of people, fellas who have your back all the time, good friends of mine. So it’s tough to say goodbye to them.”
Care ready for ‘biggest game of my life’
By Andrew Baldock, PA Rugby Union Correspondent, Paris
Danny Care is ready for the biggest game of his life when England face South Africa in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals. A repeat of the 2019 final will see England arrive at Stade de France on Saturday as the tournament’s solitary remaining unbeaten team.
Four successive pool-stage victories and a quarter-final triumph against Fiji have combined to confound the critics who predicted an underwhelming tournament for Steve Borthwick’s team and while reigning world champions South Africa are firm favourites, resilient England remain in the fight.
“We have got two more weeks and a massive game to fly into, which will be the biggest game of my life. I can’t wait,” England scrum-half Care said. “I think the character of this team was questioned before the World Cup and whether we had anything in us to come out here and do anything.
“Hopefully, we have quietly gone about our business and ticked off a few wins. Four from four in the pools, a fifth in the quarter-final against a team who everybody was saying was going to surprise us and beat us. It clicked when we got over here, training went up a notch, perhaps because of the severity of where we were and the realisation that we were at a World Cup – the last one for a few of us, the first for others.
“That mixture came together and we gave it our all. We feel like we deserve to be here. We are going to give it our all next weekend and try and make everyone at home proud. We have got a lot of lads who played in the World Cup final four years ago, a lot of lads who have won big trophies, won big games.
“We will use all of that next week to hopefully get another big win. We are delighted to be in the semi-final of this World Cup – one step closer to the dream.”
At 36, Care might be in the twilight phase of a Test career that began 15 years ago, but he has showcased every bit of experience gained from winning 94 England caps. He followed up scoring the winning try in England’s tense victory over Samoa by being at the forefront of the impressive finale in Marseille that repelled a thrilling Fiji fightback and closed out a 30-24 win.
