Jones ‘full steam ahead’ at Stormers

Western Province Rugby Union president Thelo Wakefield says there is no reason to believe Eddie Jones will ditch the Stormers to coach England.

English bookmakers have slashed the odds on Jones succeeding Stuart Lancaster, but Wakefield said the former Japan and Wallabies coach was committed to the Stormers' cause.

'Eddie made it clear that he is not available for the England job. He says he is not interested in the job and there is no reason for us to doubt him,' Wakefield told the Cape Argus.

'Eddie is going full steam ahead with the preparations, he had a long day on Monday, and had a lot of meetings to get the ball rolling for the start of the season. I think he sees it as a great challenge.'

Jones confirmed at his first Cape Town media conference last week that he was here to stay, and has also aired concerns over England's failure to introduce a central player-contracting system.

'How can you manage your players when they are controlled by other organisations? In my opinion, that is the single greatest task ahead of whoever is going to be appointed as the next England coach,' Jones told espn.co.uk.

'Wales, Ireland and Scotland – unlike England, Italy and France – all have centralised contracting systems,' he said. 'The union controls the players. As a consequence, they produced competitive teams and vibrant performances at the recent World Cup.'

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

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