Eddie Jones staged one last act of defiance before leaving Twickenham for the final time

It was 10:15 a.m. when Eddie Jones left Twickenham for the last time. He burst through the revolving doors of the stadium hotel bar, a large leather bag in hand, and hurried over to the black Mercedes waiting outside.

He managed to avoid the lone TV camera that had been in place for the better part of 24 hours, but rolled down the window with a farewell message. ‘You’ll have to ask the RFU,’ he said, glassy-eyed, gesturing towards the office of its former CEO, Bill Sweeney.

There was one last act of defiance before the Australian sped off. It is understood that he rejected the wording of the official press release, which was published 75 minutes later, because he did not want the announcement to say that he had “separated” from the position he held for the past seven years, but instead to say he was “fired.” This was not the way he wanted it to end.

The revolving door kept turning. Jones’ aides were the next to arrive, ready for a technical review of the dismal fall campaign he had been in the newspaper since last week. When they got to their meeting, unknown to them, Jones had already left the building.

As Sweeney’s decision made its way to morning press conferences, hospitality staff inside the hotel bar huddled around the television, watching footage being filmed directly outside. His long-time client was no more.

There was more coming and going outside the RFU offices. Former captain Will Carling and training coordinator Danny Kerry, who nearly resigned two days into the season, were next to arrive. Both declined the opportunity to comment, without joking, as the Jones era came to an inglorious end.