Watch the tense moment Eddie Jones is grilled by Australian journalist over his defection to Japan as former Wallabies boss clarifies what REALLY happened before the Rugby World Cup

Eddie Jones admits he feels “terrible” about leaving Australia for Japan but insists he has not been interviewed for his new job as Wallabies coach after being grilled at his press conference on Thursday.

Japan confirmed rugby's worst-kept secret this week by announcing Jones' return to the Brave Blossoms, despite the 63-year-old denying speculation linking him to the post no fewer than 14 times.

Unsurprisingly, Wallabies fans are unimpressed by the behavior of the coach who quit in October after overseeing their embarrassing campaign at the Rugby World Cup in France.

And at his unveiling in Japan, Sydney Morning Herald reporter Tom Decent – who has vehemently reported that Jones had flirted with Japan while Wallabies coach – took the opportunity to take a closer look at the former boss.

“Konnichiwa Eddie, congratulations on the role,” he began. You've denied links to this job all year, I think more than a dozen times.

The former Wallabies coach resigned in October and was announced by Japan this week

“Can we just clarify when you first contacted the JRFU and did you feel the need to apologize to Wallabies fans before the World Cup?”

Jones, who had been warmly received by the Japanese contingent of reporters on Thursday, responded to the pointed question.

“Well, I didn't do an interview before the World Cup,” he explained.

'I was asked by the recruitment agency to share my experiences with them about Japan. Some people might have taken that as an interview. It certainly wasn't an interview.

“The first interview I had with Japan was in December, and that's the only interview I've had.”

Reflecting on his short-lived stint Down Under, he said: 'My apologies to the Australian fans? Mate, I gave everything I could in that short time, but it wasn't good enough.

“As we discussed before, I had a plan of what we needed to do to change Australian rugby and we couldn't do that, Rugby Australia couldn't help support that, so I decided to move on. I wish Australia all the best.

Jones insisted he did not apply for the job while in charge of the Wallabies

'I feel terrible about what I… about the results in Australia, because I wanted to go back and change Australia.

'I feel terrible mate. But I don't feel guilty about this process at all and I know you've hit this pretty hard, but I didn't get an interview until December.”

Decent was allowed to ask a follow-up question and did not answer it: 'For clarification, the Zoom invitation says 'first round interview', so we may differ in opinion about that.

'On October 13 you said you hadn't spoken to recruiters or anything like that, the president of the JRFU confirmed last night that you had spoken to them before the World Cup, why were you a bit loose about the truth there? Do you think Australians really believe that your first interview with Japan was only last week?'

Jones responded, “Well, I'm not sure what to believe, buddy. All I can say is that the first interview I had with Japan was in December and that was it.”