Japan coach Eddie Jones said he was “abused” by a spectator during his fiery return to Twickenham on Monday (AEDT).
Jones was the centre of attention during England’s 59-14 win in London after the explosive claims made in Danny Care’s biography.
Jones coached England between 2015-22 before an ill-fated 2023 stint with Australia and then returning to Japan.
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Japan coach Eddie Jones in the stands. Getty
“It wasn’t bad until some clown abused me going down at halftime,” Jones said.
“But if there is only one clown in 81,634, it’s not too bad. So it was good mate. I’m disappointed with the result but it is always good to come to the home of rugby. A fantastic atmosphere. He said something, obviously, but I’m not going to repeat it here because I’ll get into trouble.”
England’s Rugby Football Union later released a statement saying: “No coaches, players or match officials should be abused for doing their job.”
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Japan coach Eddie Jones arrives. Getty
In Care’s book, the former England halfback claimed that “everyone was bloody terrified” of Jones and that the environment was “like living in a dictatorship, under a despot who disappeared people.”
Jones, who missed his pre-match press conference due to illness, was predictably asked about Care’s comments.
“I’ll tell you mate, I’ve got a new book deal coming out,” Jones said.
Andrew Johns talks to Ben Youngs, Danny Care and Eddie Jones at Coogee Oval in 2016. Getty
“I signed it today. It’s called Caring about Care – there’ll be all the details in there. I’ve got pre-order forms. I’m trying to get a deal with the Daily Mail, but I haven’t got an agreement yet. So if you want to read about it, there you go. It’ll be a good one. If you want to read about it, it’ll be in my book. That’s how you get headlines. I’ll put a whole chapter about caring about Care, just for you.”
Jones then offered his congratulations to England coach Steve Borthwick who had been on a five game losing streak.
“I’m glad he won’t have you blokes (media) hounding him for at least seven days. I’m sure he’ll enjoy his orange juice tonight.”
Eddie Jones stands with his coaching staff. Getty
England were previously defeated by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in November after back-to-back losses to the All Blacks in July.
A sixth straight defeat would have been England’s worst run since 2006.
Captain Jamie George scored two of England’s five tries in the first half and there were four more after the break with Luke Cowan-Dickie — the replacement hooker for George – also crossing twice.
Japan have still never beaten England, who were sharp and efficient, taking their chances when they arose and showing variety in attack.
Yet routing an opponent ranked No.13 in the world papers over the cracks of a season that has seen the team go backward.
The three southern hemisphere powers had already stormed Twickenham to place Borthwick under pressure heading into the Six Nations, with his record for 2024 reading five victories in 12 matches.
Ireland in Dublin is England’s next assignment and this romp has at least lifted the heavy burden of a losing run that registered the nation’s worst sequence of results since 2018 – when Jones was in charge.
The onslaught began as early as the ninth minute when Marcus Smith and Henry Slade combined to send Ollie Lawrence charging into space.
Ben Earl was in support to take the scoring pass.
England made ground with every attack and the alarm bells started ringing for Japan when Sam Underhill forced his way over following muscular work from his pack.
Underhill was injured while carrying the ball over the line, ending his game, but the one way traffic continued with England repeatedly driving tacklers backward in contact.
Over went a driving maul with George the scorer and only a knock on from scrumhalf Jack van Poortvliet prevented Tommy Freeman from extending the lead further.
But the next score arrived soon enough with the maul and George delivering once again to extend the lead to 28-0.
It was already looking grim for Japan but the visitors showed their flair for attack by racing through a large hole in the home midfield for Naoto Saito to touch down.
Lawrence’s pinball run and a long floated pass by Will Stuart sent Ollie Sleightholme over, ushering in a long second half for Japan.
They emerged from the break showing far greater resolve, however, and for much of the third quarter England’s players were forced to roll up their sleeves as white shirts pressured their defence.
But when the opportunity arrived to strike, England grabbed it with a lineout turnover kicked to the wing where Freeman produced an outrageous around-the-back pass for George Furbank to finish.
Spinning as he carried from short range, Cowan-Dickie was the next to cross but again Japan showed its threat with the ball when Kazuki Himeno rounded off a move full of imagination.
England responded with tries from Cowan-Dickie and Tom Roebuck to complete the win.
