(Reuters) – Eddie Jones said it will be difficult for him to be coaching a team at next year’s Rugby World Cup and that he is planning to take “a bit of a breath” after being sacked by England earlier this month.
Jones was sacked after England won only five of their 12 tests this year and was replaced by former captain Steve Borthwick.
Earlier this week Jones said he still had much to offer the game but the Australian thinks the Sept. 8-Oct. 28 World Cup in France might be too soon for him – unless he gets an offer he cannot refuse.
“Coaching at the next World Cup will be difficult,” Jones told the Sydney Morning Herald in an interview published on Friday.
“It probably has struck me that the last three years has taken a fair bit out of me … It was pretty all encompassing the last three years, so I think I’ll take a bit of a breath now.
“If someone comes forward and the offer’s too good to refuse then I’ll look at it, but I think it’s getting too close to the starting point of the World Cup, so I’m not too bothered one way or another.”
Jones also heaped praise on his successor Borthwick.
“We coached together for nine years. I brought him into coaching with Japan and he’s a fantastic assistant coach,” Jones said.
“The difficult thing for him is he’s still quite young. He’s 41.
“But he’s quite mature. The test will be when the pressure gets on, when the media starts coming at him, maybe the support at the top starts to waver a little bit. How he can hold his nerve. But he’s a good man.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
