Some clown abused me at half-time – Eddie Jones confronted on Twickenham return

Eddie Jones claimed he was abused by a fan at half-time of Japan’s 59-14 defeat by England at Allianz Stadium before laughing off allegations made by Danny Care over his management style.

Jones’ first appearance at Twickenham against the side he coached from 2015 to 2022 ended in a nine-try rout and the Australian’s afternoon was soured further by a verbal altercation with a supporter.

When asked how he felt being back at the home of English rugby, he said: “It wasn’t bad until some clown abused me going down the stairs at half-time.

“He said something, but I’m not going to repeat it here because I’ll get into trouble. Do you want me to get into trouble again? If there’s only one clown in 81,634 that’s not bad.”

The Rugby Football Union reacted to the abuse of Jones by stating: “No coaches, players or match officials should be abused for doing their job.”

Jones has come under intense scrutiny for his coaching methods as England boss after Care said in his autobiography ‘Everything Happens for a Reason’ that “everyone was bloody terrified of him”.

Care added that Jones oversaw a “toxic” environment and acted like a “tyrant” and “despot”.

Responding to the allegations for the first time, Jones said: “I’ll tell you mate, I’ve got a new book deal. I just signed it today. It’s going to be called ‘Caring about Care’ and you’ll get all the details in there.

“I’ve got pre-order forms up here, you can come up and get a pre-order form. Get them hot.

“I’m trying to do a deal with the Daily Mail, but we haven’t come to an agreement yet. If you want to read about it, there you go. It’ll be a good one.

“I’m very serious. I’m very serious, mate. If you want to read about it, read it in my book. That’s how you get a headline, so I’ll put a whole chapter in there ‘Caring about Care’, just for you.”

England finished their autumn on an upbeat note by sweeping aside Japan, ending their five-Test losing streak.

But it has been a frustrating campaign after New Zealand, Australia and South Africa edged victories at Twickenham to place Borthwick under pressure.

“The overriding feeling this autumn is one of frustration to have come so close to getting results but not actually being able to convert them,” Borthwick said.

“But there is real positivity around how the team played. I want the team to be brave with the ball, I want them to play fast, and we’ve seen growth in that area over the last four weeks.

“I’m really pleased with the way the players approached the game against Japan and the way they kept being disciplined to try and play the way they wanted to play for 80 minutes. You can see the identity they’re trying to build as a team.

“In the last four weeks we’ve scored some really outstanding tries with the skill level that is in this group.”