Wallabies chief Alan Jones has pushed Rugby Australia to appoint Eddie Jones as the country’s head coach in a tough column.
Alan Jones coached the Wallabies between 1984 and 1987 before managing rugby league side Balmain Tigers, and worked in Australian publishing.
Not two diligence
In the train to ExpressJones has urged Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan to do no due diligence before burning out Dave Rennie and hiring Eddie Jones.
“In fact, no due diligence has been done on the person previously robbed by Australian Rugby,” Jones wrote.
“The failure of the process should raise questions about the entire Australian Rugby Board.”
Jones added that McLennan’s knowledge of rugby was limited before he approached the new Wallabies boss.
“The last time he coached an Australian team, he was sacked in 2005, after seven straight losses,” he wrote.
At which time the chiefs of the Wallabies complained that the provisions had been too much, and had killed them of their own accord.
“It has also been reported, within the game, that he had pushed his assistant coach, Ewan McKenzie, so hard that McKenzie ended up in mental detention during the 2003 World Cup campaign.”
‘I cannot bear the people.’
That Wallabies coach’s biggest criticism of Jon was his perceived lack of remorse, likening him to a man with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).
“He clearly exhibits behavioral characteristics that psychologists would align with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD),” Jones wrote.
“People with this condition” are also commonly called “sociopaths” or “psychopaths”.
“People with ASPD are controlling, violent, and have no guilt or conscience for their destructive behavior.
“In a nutshell, people with sociopathy may have little truthfulness and a tendency to rationalize their actions, but they know the difference between right and wrong.
“Psychopaths have no moral sense or empathy.
“People with ASPD, sociopaths and psychopaths, have challenges maintaining friendships and making relationships work.
Whence Eddie Jones said, ‘I can’t stand the people.’
“Does this bode well for Australian rugby?
“If a coach exhibits characteristics such as low empathy, low emotional intelligence, lack of concern for the safety of others, a tendency to intimidate and threaten to gain control, difficulty learning from mistakes – is Eddie Jones your coach in 2023?”
Jones’s life has not changed
81-year-old Eddie Jones has claimed he hasn’t changed since his first tenure in charge of the Wallabies, using Dylan Hartley’s comments to illustrate his point.
Jones added that it takes dedication, discipline and self-control, but he believes that “you don’t have to be a brutal coach.”
“Rugby Australia have a duty of care to the players and backroom staff,” wrote Alan Jones.
“It’s clear that I don’t believe the RA made the right decision and I’m questioning Hamish McLennan’s competence to run our game.”
He wrote that he takes exception to how Jones treats people and that he only gets away with it because he has won enough games.
“Eddie Jones cannot be blamed for escaping the scrutiny and the unrecognized award of a job that was once considered the best coach in the rugby world trophy; but history suggests that this will be the end of Australia with a large financial burden; but he added that the price of rugby, which in Australia is already on the low side.
“We all want Eddie Jones to succeed, but history suggests that the accidents on the road outweigh the triumphs.”
READ MORE: GUARDIAN: Wallaby take two hits on referee Mathieu Raynal in a sloppy game at the Australian Open