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Will he stay or walk away? Jones set for crunch talks Andrew Fosker/INPHO
crunch talks

Eddie Jones set for showdown contract talks with RFU

Loud-mouth coach may also face disciplinary action for his comments about ref after Wales match with calls for Joe Marler and Manu Tuilagi to also be banned.

EDDIE JONES WILL sit down with the RFU’s chief executive, Bill Sweeney, in the next fortnight to decide whether to sign a new contract.

Jones’ current deal expires at the end of next season but given what he has achieved this year – an appearance in the World Cup final and a Triple Crown – the England coach will arrive at the negotiating table with a strong hand.

“I think we’ve got dinner organised in a couple of weeks so we may be able to chat about it,” said Jones who then said he does not actually like his job. “I never enjoy coaching. Winning is a relief. Anyone who tells you they enjoy coaching is lying. All you do is coach hard, if you win you feel good for 24 hours and then you’re back into it. That’s all it is.”

The fact Jones earns £750,000-a-year probably makes the misery worth it.

In the meantime, Jones’ post-match comments about referee, Ben O’Keeffe, will be examined this week.

The England coach said his team were playing with 13 men against 16 for the concluding passage of the game, after O’Keeffe had issued a yellow and red card in the final 10 minutes of the match. If charged with bringing the game into disrepute, Jones faces a possible stadium ban.

Tuilagi also faces a potential ban of six weeks for his shoulder-led tackle on George North while Joe Marler could get a 12-week ban for “grabbing, twisting or squeezing” another player’s testicles. Wales want Marler cited for his blatant grab on Alun Wyn Jones.

Marler posted a Tweet which said: “Bollocks. Complete bollocks.”

Meanwhile, Jones has said he will bring his Saracens contingent to Japan for this season’s tour. Due to player-management protocols, and an agreement signed between the RFU and Premiership rugby, the squad initially looked like being a largely experimental one.

That may now change – given that Saracens are on their way down to the Championship, following their salary-cap scandal.

“They’ve got to play some rugby, don’t they? It’s either playing Jersey or Japan,” Jones said. “Once we get down to selection for Japan we’ll start to look at what each player needs to have.

“It’s going to be a real test of our ability to adapt quickly to the conditions and get a team together because I’m sure there may be different players in the squad.”

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