Eddie Jones hit back in a bitter exchange with a number of Australian supporters after a fan accused the England head coach of being ‘a traitor’ following the Test series decide in Sydney on Saturday.
Footage of two incidents surfaced after England clinched the deciding match with a 21-17 win to secure the series victory. In one of the exchanges, a supporter - who is holding a beer - can be heard being urged to spray Jones before pointing at the former Australia head coach and labelling him a ‘traitor’.
Rugby Australia immediately condemned the behaviour as ‘totally unacceptable’ after videos emerged on social media in which Jones reacted furiously to the insults. Jones, accompanied by security guards from the Rugby Football Union, took offence to the jibe.
The Australian approached the fan and said: “What did you say? What did you say? Come here and say it. Come here and say it. Come here and say it.”
Another security guard can be heard telling the supporter he has spoken to the man before, while Jones is once again called a ‘traitor’ and an ‘angry little man’ before he responded with similar fury. Elsewhere, a man was charged by police after climbing up the big screen and urinating from the roof of the O’Reilly stand during the second half of the match.
It is believed that Jones was insulted a number of times at the Sydney Cricket Ground while he was also subjected to several inappropriate comments. The 62-year-old did not address the confrontations in his post-match press conference, but he told the Sydney Morning Herald report: “Clowns think they have full go to abuse coaches.”
Jones will spend next week in Melbourne after extending his personal stay while the rest of the team and the staff flew home on Sunday. It is not the first time Jones has addressed abusive comments, as he said he was amused to ‘turn the Australian fans away’ after England bounced back from their loss in Perth with a second-Test win in Brisbane.
“You have got 48,000 people all full of drink and all they want to see is their team win,” he said. “When you turn them away, it is a great experience. A great feeling.
“I was coming out from the coaches’ box and they all have their scarves on. When did Australians start wearing scarves? It is all the rage isn’t it? They are not so smart now.
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“Before the game they are coming up saying to me: ‘You are going to get belted tonight.’ Now they are a little bit more quiet. So that’s good. I enjoy that.”
This is not the first time Jones has been in a similar situation as he and Ellis Genge revealed they were abused by supporters during the 2018 tour of South Africa. Jones was also the victim of verbal abuse at a Manchester trains station when Scotland fans poked fun at England’s Calcutta Cup defeat in 2018.
When preparing for his first return to Murrayfield two years later, Jones said: “That happens every day. What do you reckon happens when I walk down the street? Some people say nice things, some people are into you. It happens every day. If you didn’t want it, you don’t do this job."
