Eddie Jones has defended his World Cup first strategy and claimed Argentina are the only football team people will remember from the last four years.
Jones was sacked as England coach earlier this month after a dismal run of form yet insisted the team remained on track for next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
“I wouldn't do anything differently,” he said. “I was quite confident that we were on the right track, leading up to the World Cup. And I still have that belief. But if others don't share that, then that's their decision.”
He maintains that prioritising the World Cup, at the expense of back-to-back Six Nations flops, was the correct thing to do.
“The World Cup is the ultimate trophy,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. "If you look at the football, for instance, the only team people are going to remember over the last four years is Argentina now.”
Jones, 62, said he felt support from his Rugby Football Union bosses weaken over the autumn campaign and that his dismissal “was coming”.
He added: “I could feel the change in the wind. You know, when you've been coaching for a while you feel when your support is starting to wane."
Jones said he had received “at least 40 texts” from England players thanking him after his seven years in charge.
“It makes me feel a bit sad now talking about it because they have a great bunch of boys,” he said.
The Australian has been linked with a return to the Wallabies set-up which could mean him going head-to-head with England in a World Cup quarter-final.
“It's not about coaching an England rival,” he said. “It's about I want to add to the game. I love the game, I love coaching.”
