England rugby union boss’ future to be decided this week amid links to rugby league switch

Whilst the likes of Leeds Rhinos legend Jamie Peacock called for an investigation into what went wrong for England in the Rugby League World Cup, England rugby union are conducting a review into their side and boss Eddie Jones.

Eddie Jones and his team are on a dismal run, with the most recent autumn series seeing the Red Roses lose two of their four games whilst also settling for a draw against New Zealand – that even requiring a late fightback against 14 men.

This marked the national side’s worst set of results across one calendar year since 2008 and, as a result, head coach Eddie Jones’ future is up in the air with Rugby Football Union (RFU) officials set to meet and discuss his future prior to the 2023 Rugby Union World Cup.

Jones’ future will now be decided as early as next week with the RFU Review panel to meet on Monday to determine the side’s future and whether Jones could be asked to move.

Jones has long been tipped to make the cross-code switch to league and more specifically, the NRL.

Jones has not been shy in declaring his ambitions to coach in Australia’s premier rugby league competition one day and with the pressure heating up on his future in union, there’s a potential he may make the switch that’s been on the cards for some time.

Speculation regarding Jones’ move towards rugby league has been mainly fuelled by Jones himself. He’s a lifelong South Sydney Rabbitohs fan and has even stated that the Bunnies job “would be the dream”.

He told Nine Entertainment Co.: “If there was an opportunity there [in the NRL] I would jump at it, but the reality is it’s probably not going to be there.

“From the age of five, I’ve supported Souths. That would be fantastic [to coach the Rabbitohs]. I loved the old teams with Ronnie Coote, Bob McCarthy, John Sattler and Eric Simms.”

Jones had made these comments during the summer when visiting the Penrith Panthers, the back-to-back NRL champions, and with his potential exit from the 15-man game he may well make the switch to the 13-man code.

So, if dismissed as many believe he could be, we could see him make the move to rugby league and to the NRL.