In October 2023, Eddie Jones fronted a packed media conference at his beloved Coogee Oval. “Are you staying or going?” a reporter asked the Wallabies coach, who’d just presided over Australia’s worst performance in a World Cup. “Staying, mate,” said Jones, who was on contract with Rugby Australia until 2027. “I’ve always been committed to Australian rugby.” That wasn’t true. Jones had been preparing to say sayonara to Australian rugby from the moment he agreed to take part in a first-round interview with the Japanese Rugby Football Union, two months earlier, while in France on duty as Wallabies coach.