Eddie Jones has pulled out of his pre-match press conference ahead of his Japan side’s autumn Test against England due to “health reasons”.
Jones, who was sacked as England coach almost two years ago, was due to participate in an online only press-conference on Friday where questions “unrelated” to the game may be stopped by a moderator, but the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) said later in the day he was unwell.
Jones, as it stands, is expected to be fit to lead his side in Sunday’s Autumn Nations Series encounter.
England are out to stop a run of five successive defeatshaving lost tight matches against New Zealand, Australia and world champions South Africa.
Jones led England to three Six Nations triumphs during his six-year tenure between 2016 and 2022, plus the runners-up spot to South Africa at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, but has recently come under the spotlight following the release of former England scrum-half Danny Care’s autobiography.
Care – who won 101 caps – claimed Jones oversaw a “toxic” environment during his time in charge, with former fly-half Danny Cipriani also hitting out at the coach.
However centre Ollie Lawrence recently came to the defence of Jones, insisting the tough love shaped him into the player he has become.
“I’ll always be grateful to Eddie because he gave me my first England cap. He’s one of those coaches, as we all know, that likes to challenge players,” Lawrence said.
“There was a point in my career where he challenged me on my attitude and whether I was working hard enough to warrant being in the squad and whether I was pushing myself enough in training.
“At the time you can look at it and be frustrated and be ‘oh, the boss isn’t on my side here’. Back then I was probably a bit annoyed. I was probably like ‘why is he on my case so much, why is he on my case?’. But now I look back and think that was probably the best thing that I needed then.”
Current England head coach Steve Borthwick – who replaced Jones – has recalled George Furbank and Tom Curry to the side for Sunday’s game.
