Eddie Jones shuts down Lions rumours and names two better suited candidates
- 2910
England head coach Eddie Jones says he has no interest in coaching the British and Irish Lions despite being linked with the head coach role.
Jones was asked, 'would you like to add British and Irish Lions coach to your CV one day?' by a Telegraph reader.
The Australian answered: "Respectfully, no. I am an Australian, and I don't really have any connection to the Lions as such."
He did throw two names into the hat, who he thought would do a better job.
"I'm also not suited to wearing a blazer 12 months of the year. Someone like Gregor Townsend or Andy Farrell would be better for that job than me."
Jones will vacate the England head coach role after the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France with his contract expires, with the 61-year-old stating in September that "it is the last chapter for me, the last two years. I have never been so excited in my life."
If the Lions were to approach Jones for the role, they could persuade the Australian. In his 2019 autobiography, Eddie Jones – My Life and Rugby, he said that he believed that a couple of tongue-in-cheek comments cost him the chance to coach the British & Irish Lions in 2021.
'In my attempt to amuse the Japanese audience, I referred to the "scummy Irish" and Wales as a "little s**t place". I was embarrassed. Not only because the slurs weren't funny but because they weren't my real views. I was going for a cheap laugh. While it was clear in the video that I was smiling and joking, it looked bad. It was bad.
'I have for a long time wanted to coach the British & Irish Lions. I still hope that one day, I might get the opportunity.'
