Is Eddie Jones the sad clown of Australian rugby – or just diverting our attention?

There’s chatter in the background about Jones’ end-date. He’s contracted until the end of the 2027 World Cup, but there’s a fear the British and Lions tour of Australia in 2025 might do him.

Let’s hope not because Jones and chairman Hamish McLennan are the best things going for rugby as it crawls to the line of private equity. You just hope there’s some substance behind the public declarations that things are going to turn.