Rugby World Cup: Eddie Jones rules out resigning despite leading Australia closer to embarrassing early exit

Even after a likely Rugby World Cup exit, Eddie Jones won't fall on his sword as head coach of the Wallabies.

Australia have slipped to a record 40-6 defeat to Wales at Lyon that left hopes of a World Cup quarter-final spot resting in the hands of Fiji.

Should the Pacific Islanders defeat either Georgia or Portugal in their final two group games, Australia will suffer the ignominy of a poolstage exit.

The 34-point margin of defeat against Wales was Australia's worst at a Rugby World Cup and, afterwards, pressure on Jones is continuing to mount.

Pone Fa'amausili reacts to Australia's loss to Wales.
Pone Fa'amausili reacts to Australia's loss to Wales. Photo credit: Getty Images

After returning to Australia this year, when Kiwi Dave Rennie was sacked, Jones has guided the Wallabies to just one test win from eight, with that sole success coming against minnows Georgia to open the World Cup.

For the two-time world champions, that form would see any other coach's head on the chopping block, but not Jones, 62, who put pen to paper on a five-year contract through to the end of 2027, tasked to guide the Wallabies to not just this World Cup, but also the next on home soil.

Should Rugby Australia wish to remove Jones from his post, a huge payout would be needed, given the nature of his long contract.  

If Jones were to resign, it would be a different story altogether.  

Reports suggest Jones has held talks with Japan to replace outgoing Kiwi Jamie Joseph from 2024, but he has refuted that claim.

Now staring at a premature World Cup exit, Jones asserts he's still the man to lead the Wallabies towards the 2027 World Cup.   

"I came back to Australia to try to help," he said. "At the moment, I'm not giving much help, am I, but that doesn't mean my commitment to help has changed.

"I'm a proud Australian, I hate to see Australian rugby do as poorly as we've been doing. There's not only the Wallabies we've got to improve, we've got to improve the whole system of Australian rugby.

"That's not an excuse. We've got to have a really good look at ourselves and see what we've got to do to improve the way we're going about our rugby."

Ultimately, Jones' fate lies in the hands of the Rugby Australia board and that decision might come after this World Cup.

While he thinks he's the right man for the job, Jones concedes that decision might not be his, but that doesn't change his belief in the young Wallabies outfit he hopes he will grow from this experience.   

"That's not my judgement, that's the judgement of Rugby Australia," he added. "I think I've got the ability to turn things around.  

"I was hoping we would have been able to do it by now. As I said, I take full responsibility for it, I haven't done a good enough job.  

"I'm bloody disappointed about that."

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