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Eddie Jones and Rassie Erasmus. Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images via AFP

REPORTS: Springboks-England result sealed Eddie Jones’ fate

The axe is expected to fall on Eddie Jones early this week, with the year-ending result against the Springboks said to have sealed his fate.

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Eddie Jones and Rassie Erasmus. Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images via AFP

According to reports, Jones is expected to be fired by England early this week after presiding over England’s worst year of international rugby since 2008, and which ended with a disappointing defeat to South Africa.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Jones will split with the RFU as early as Monday despite actually being the most successful England coach in regards to his 73 percent win rate over his seven-year reign.

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Jones’ former right-hand man Steve Borthwick, who has enjoyed remarkable success with Leicester, is the favourite candidate to take over from Jones.

Some reports suggest it was the manner of the meek defeat to the Springboks that ultimately sealed the fate of Jones, who has also been accused of an abrasive and fearful style of coaching that has ‘lost the changeroom’.

An ongoing review led by RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney is set to decide if Jones could still stay as coach until next year’s World Cup in France, and the veteran coach is apparently still prepared to fight for his job.

According to the Daily Mail, the RFU want a ‘quick decision’ to be made and it remains highly likely that Jones will be sacked before the end of the week despite the fact it would cost the RFU more than R20 million. This is due to the fact England would have to pay off the remainder of Jones’ contract, while also having to splash the cash to extract Borthwick from his Leicester job.

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Eddie Jones once worked with the Springboks

In his latest column for Rugby Pass, World Cup-winning coach Jake White – who famously worked with the Australian at the 2007 World Cup – suggested that Jones “is in trouble”.

“I know more than anyone that a week is a long time in Test rugby because in 2006, I had been flown home earlier in the series for a vote of no confidence, ironically from my current employers, the Bulls. They had called into question my leadership of South Africa, so I know how Eddie is feeling right now,” White wrote.

“It’s days since a heavy defeat to South Africa and the mood has changed. The silence has been deafening from the RFU which adds to the swirling conjecture over Eddie’s future being in the balance.

“Eddie will have spent this week nervously waiting, crossing his fingers and toes for a positive outcome. Last week I said England were favourites for the World Cup, and nothing has changed. It is still possible. They still have a great draw, they still have great players, and they will have huge travelling support but they have ground to make up.

“The one area Eddie has regressed in, and I’ve said it previously, is his inability to retain staff, and according to reports, more key staff seem to be wavering. He seems to be making the same mistakes wherever he’s gone.

“My gut feeling is he is in trouble. If the World Cup wasn’t less than a year away, he’d be gone. That is a fact. If the World Cup was two years away, he’d be out of there.”

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eddie jones
England’s head coach Eddie Jones walks off the podium after losing the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup final match between England and South Africa at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama on November 2, 2019. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)