Eddie Jones has pulled out of his pre-match press conference for “health reasons” as he prepares to face England at Twickenham for the first time as Japan head coach.
It is coming up to the two-year anniversary of Jones’ sacking as England head coach with the pressure now growing on his successor, Steve Borthwick, following a run of five successive defeats.
Jones’ tenure as England head coach has come under further scrutiny since the release of Danny Care’s autobiography. The former England scrum-half accused Jones of acting like a “despot who disappeared people” by bullying staff members and players.
Two weeks ago, Jones claimed to have had no knowledge of the accusations, saying: “I haven’t read the book, I haven’t read the comments, so I have no idea what you’re talking about. Apologies.”
The Japan Rugby Football Union had already decided that Jones’ press conference would be online only with a further edict that questions “need to be related to the member announcement for the weekend game. Unrelated questions could be stopped by a moderator.”
A few hours before Jones was due to speak, an update went out that Neal Hatley, his long-term assistant, would be taking his place. A JRFU spokesperson said that Jones started feeling unwell in the afternoon but they expect him to recover in time to take his place in the coaches box at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
This is not the first time that Jones has coached at Twickenham since his sacking having taken charge of a Barbarians match against a World XV in 2023. He also faced England this year as his Japan team suffered a 52-17 defeat.
But this will be the highest profile reunion between the Twickenham crowd and Jones, who guided England to the 2019 World Cup final, and the first since Care gave voice to the long-term accusations that Jones was a bully.
For a coach who has always courted the limelight, his inability to perform his prematch media duties will be a crushing blow.
