If rumours are true, Eddie Jones will soon be back in charge of the Japanese national team. Such a move will prove controversial and cause anger and bitterness in some parts, but this is Eddie, it has always been thus.

To describe Jones as a Marmite figure would be inaccurate. He divides opinion between those who hate him and those who love him, but with a long list of caveats. He is not the sort of character who provokes unconditional love.

If you are in the former camp, you might as well not bother to read the rest of this piece as it will not alter your view, although I doubt you approached it in an open frame of mind once you realised its subject. That is what Eddie tends to do to people. If you are prepared to at least consider both sides of the argument – read on.

So, why would Japan look to return to Jones when his last two appointments, with England and Australia, have ended in rancour and failure?

First let us look at the contractual situation. Jones signed a five-year contract to coach Australia less than a year before the recent World Cup, in which they failed to get out of their pool for the first time. Jones resigned after the debacle, but the truth is that the press and public clamour for his sacking would have led to a parting of ways however it came about. Therefore, the allegations of disloyalty must be seen in that light. You cannot demand that someone be sacked and then get annoyed when he looks elsewhere.

You would have a case if Jones had negotiated a move whilst still in situ, something alleged but strongly denied. However, in today’s cut-throat world of sporting contracts they are, as Hamlet said, more honoured in the breach than the observance. Sporting loyalty lasts only as long neither party becomes disillusioned.

Eddie Jones resigned as Wallabies coach after failed they to get out of their World Cup pool for the first time in France.Credit: Getty

There are not many coaches around and, importantly, available who can match Jones’s record. The number of successful World Cup coaches is very small and could they be persuaded to move to Japan anyway? Consider this: neither Andy Farrell nor Shaun Edwards – who, according to many, including me, would be England’s dream coaching team – have ever reached a World Cup final.

Despite recent travails, this is Jones’s coaching record. He was technical adviser to South Africa when they won the 2007 World Cup. He led Australia and England to World Cup finals in 2003 and 2019 respectively. His England side equalled the “tier-one” record of 18 successive Test wins. He won a Six Nations Grand Slam with England (2016), the Tri-Nations with Australia (2001) and the Super Rugby title with the Brumbies (2001).