The ‘special surprise’ that reduced Eddie to tears ahead of Wallabies decider

Three years ago Eddie Jones was left rocked when his former mentor and Randwick great Jeff Sayle passed away during the 2019 World Cup.

Jones desperately wanted to leave the tournament for a day to be at his funeral. Ultimately, he realised he couldn’t leave as the England coach led the nation to the World Cup final.

But on Tuesday night, in a private function at the Coogee Surf Club, Jones was given the “surprise” of his life when he was presented with one of his former Randwick jerseys.

Little did Jones know that the jersey had been kept at Sayle’s house.

Having being inducted into Randwick’s Hall of Fame last year, the club honoured Jones with his jersey in a box.

“Pretty special, mate,” Jones told foxsports.com.au, his bloodshot eyes filling with tears.

“That was so thoughtful.”

Having needed a minute to collect his thoughts, Jones returned to say the presentation had been “very special” and he had been “very surprised” by the gesture.

This is pretty cool. Pictures for @smh @theage of Eddie Jones squeezing into his old Randwick jersey that was presented to him this week.

A deep dive here of the week that was in Coogee for England and the Randwick club.

Enjoy. Eddie certainly did. https://t.co/opcKZ9MuWS

— Tom Decent (@tomdecent) July 15, 2022

“It was really an opportunity for a lot of the players of his era to come along and a lot of the players who played against the All Blacks in 1988 with Eddie, life members, all our sponsors and just recognise what he’s done,” said World Cup-winner and Jones’ former Randwick teammate Simon Poidevin.

“We dug up an old jumper of his that was at Jeff Sayle’s house – God rest his soul – and got it all scrubbed up and it was there with the sleeves cut off and that was presented to him last night, so that was one of his jumpers from the era and that was presented to him.

“This is a guy who played from 1981 to 1992 with the club and was the best and fairest player in 1982. You look at the Randwick roster at the club in those days, that’s a pretty phenomenal achievement for a small jockey-sized hooker from Matraville High to be best and fairest in 1982.”

Full story via foxsports.com