An insulting comment from Eddie Jones about Wales came back to bite him after the Wallabies were hammered by the Dragons and needed a miracle to avoid being dumped out of the World Cup.
Jones found himself in hot water in 2018 when a video emerged of him calling Wales a ‘little shithole’ – and Welsh rugby fans have been quick to remind the Wallabies coach of his comments after the Aussies were demolished 40-6 in Lyon.
The video recorded in 2017, when Jones was coaching England, shows him giving a talk on leadership to Fuso, the Japanese parent company of then English sponsor Mitsubishi.
Jones calls the Irish ‘scummy’ and then insults the Welsh while talking about losing while coaching the Japanese national team.
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‘Is anyone from Wales here?’ he asks the audience.
“So it’s this little place where three million people live. Three million! Japan has how many, 125 million people.
“So Japan is the size of this table, and that’s Wales (pointing to a glass of water).”
Jones apologized for his offensive comments in 2018, admitting his choice of words during the conversation was inexcusable and saying he was “deeply sorry.”
After the Aussies suffered a humiliating 40-6 defeat to Wales in Lyon on Monday, some Welsh fans chose to remind Jones of his previous comments.
“Hey Eddie, congratulations on your jumped up convict colony getting crammed by” a little s**t spot. Enjoy the flight home,” one Welsh X user wrote.
Welsh rugby fans were quick to remind Jones of his insulting comments after the Wallabies were hammered by their team (pictured, dejected Aussie stars after loss)
Jones apologized for the comments he made in 2018, calling his choice of words inexcusable
Another commented: ‘He called Wales a ‘little shit place’ so no sympathy. Glad to see the smile has been wiped off his face. It’s just a game, but it’s fun to win.”
Meanwhile, former Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper also jumped to the coach’s defense, telling Stan Sport: ‘There’s going to be a lot of criticism for Eddie, and maybe there’s some fairness in that.
‘But I’ve been to the camp. No one is awake longer than Eddie. Eddie spends until 11pm thinking about how he can make the Wallabies team better, waking up at 3am to answer messages.
“There’s no shortage of desire on that guy’s part to make that team the best it can be. People will come under fire – players first, coaches, staff of coaches, the wider rugby community – but let’s get the breaks out of Eddie.”
He added: ‘Players, coaches, they put their n**s on the line… Let’s not attack that guy.’
But another player with a bad ending – five-eighth Bernard Foley – appeared to deliver a blow to Jones when he tweeted: ‘It didn’t have to be this way.
‘Players have always committed themselves.’
The Wallabies play their final World Cup match against Portugal next Sunday (2.45am Monday AEST).