Dave Rennie says there is absolutely no chance that the Wallabies will hire ex-England coach Eddie Jones in any capacity for the upcoming World Cup.
Reports from Australia suggested that there have been discussions between Rugby Australia and Jones, who was sacked as England head coach in December.
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Rugby Australia is awaiting a response from the former Wallabies head coach, who is reportedly also fielding several offers for his services beyond the 2023 World Cup.
Speaking from a four-day Wallabies training camp, head coach Rennie was asked about the potential of him working with Jones during the France-based tournament.
“As we know, there is an enormous amount of speculation at this time of year,” Rennie said. “I haven’t spoken to Hamish [McLennan, RA chairman] recently, so I can’t really comment much on it.
“It won’t happen before [the World Cup],” Rennie added. “There’s a fair bit of speculation about a lot of things but my focus is on this group and the World Cup. Anything else happening beyond that will be clarified over the next few months.
“We’ve had no discussions around that. There’s no plan to make alterations to the coaching group at this stage. I haven’t spoken to Hamish and haven’t spoken to Andy [Marinos, RA chief executive] about it. My assumption is we’re going to push on.”
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Rennie is contracted until the end of the year, having survived the axe after 2022 saw just five wins in 14 Tests for the Wallabies.
The Wallabies are on the hunt for a new assistant coach after highly-rated Scott Wisemantel resigned from his role in charge of the team’s attack last week.
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