Eddie Jones to take charge of next Lions tour?

The dust has barely settled on the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour but talk about the 2025 tour to Australia has already commenced.  

Currently, the talk is that the honour of managing the side will once again be handed to Warren Gatland. However, the name of Eddie Jones has also been thrown into the mix and the Australian has now been picked as the bookies’ second favourite, according to a report in inews.co.uk. 

Jones has stated in his autobiography My Life and Rugby that coaching the Lions would be a great honour, but feels that comments he made in the past may have dented his chances.  

 “In my attempt to amuse the Japanese audience I referred to the ‘scummy Irish’ and Wales as a ‘little s**t place’. I was embarrassed. Not only because the slurs weren’t funny but because they weren’t my real views,” Jones wrote. “I was going for a cheap laugh. While it was clear in the video that I was smiling and joking, it looked bad. It was bad. 

“I have for a long time wanted to coach the British & Irish Lions. I still hope that, one day, I might get the opportunity.” 

Lions chairman, Jason Leonard appears to be a big fan of Gatland and his contribution towards the team. 

“The highest accolade that I can give someone like Gats is that he is up there with Sir Ian McGeechan,” Leonard said.  

“If you cut him in half, he bleeds Lions. He just gets what the Lions is. Twenty-four hours after the Test, we have not really gone down that route but Warren Gatland has got to be in consideration.”