Australian rugby coach Eddie Jones has slammed a reporter for conducting the “worst interview” he has ever done ahead of his England reunion. Jones agreed to an interview with a fierce critic of his leadership style and the result was an at times tense chat.
Jones had previously clashed with The Times reporter Owen Slot during his England tenure, which spanned from 2015 to 2022. Slot believes the 64-year-old’s management style – which he claims prompted the departures of several staff members – was ‘brutal’.
When Jones was dismissed by England in 2022, Slot emailed him to say that he should listen to some staff members who had criticised his approach. Jones bluntly responded: “Thanks for the feedback.”
Now manager of Japan after a brief spell with Australia which ended in a dismal World Cup campaign, Jones is preparing to play England on June 22. He met with Slot for an interview in Paris.
The journalist claims that the chat initially went well before Jones told him: “I can’t believe how negative you are. It really intrigues me. At some stage, I must have done something really bad to you and you can’t get it out of your system.”
The Australian then declared the conversation “one of the worst interviews I’ve ever done”. He said of Slot: “I find you very negative, a quite spiteful person.”
Jones added: “You’re a spiteful person. Sad, very sad. I feel sad for you.”
The Japan head coach claims that he has moderated his behaviour since his earlier coaching days. However, it was put to him that attack coach Brad Davis resigned on the eve of Australia’s World Cup campaign having suffered from anxiety, allegedly brought on by Jones’ working environment.
Jones refutes that, claiming: “He was a defence coach. I had to put in a staff in a short period of time. I was struggling to find an attack coach, I put him in as attack coach and he struggled with it.”
Steve Borthwick replaced Jones as head coach and led England to the World Cup semi-finals at the end of last year. Jones praised the work of his successor.
“I think Steve’s done a really good job,” he said. “I’ve never met a more dedicated, more professional, more earnest person than him. Slowly and surely, he’s built the game that he likes to play.”
