‘Eddie Jones is a bully and too many people accepted it’

“He had a vision of greatness and he would brook no compromise. He chewed out subordinates…and told know-it-all pundits to take a hike. In an era of limits, he was the last great tyrant.”

This was The New York Times’ reflection on the passing of Steve Jobs in 2011 but it could be applied word-for-word to Eddie Jones’s tumultuous tenure with England. His record as England’s most successful coach, with a win percentage of 73, is counterbalanced by a trail of alleged human suffering that senior figures at the Rugby Football Union are accused of wilfully turning a blind eye towards.

Hence there will be a fair amount of uncomfortable shuffling among the plusher seats at Twickenham when Jones returns now in charge of Japan. “Everyone at the RFU knew what was going on,” one former coach told Telegraph Sport on condition of anonymity. “Eddie is a bully and too many people accepted it. No one stood up to him. How a governing body like the RFU – that is responsible for promoting the values of rugby union – can let go of what they did [Jones’s alleged behaviour] is an absolute scandal.”

Jones is the most divisive figure in the history of English rugby. No one else engenders such extreme reactions. Visionary or vicious bully. Both can be true but when it comes to Jones there is very little middle ground.

‘Eddie set English rugby on a better course’

First the good. Three Six Nations titles, including a first Grand Slam since 2003; a record-equalling 18 consecutive victories and reaching the 2019 World Cup final. Perhaps just as important as the silverware was the fact that Jones gave England their swagger back, according to former captain Dylan Hartley.

“I genuinely believe that he changed the culture of English rugby,” Hartley told Telegraph Sport. “It needed a f---ing kick up the a---. It needed a psychological boot up the a---. It needed a physical boot up the a---. It needed a tactical one. Eddie set English rugby on a better course.”

Very few players dispute Jones’s coaching ability. The debate is whether the ends justified the means. Danny Care, by way of his autobiography, was the first senior English player to articulate what multiple sources had claimed for years: that Jones fostered a toxic environment in which individuals were routinely humiliated in public. “It was like living in a dictatorship,” Care writes. “Remember what it felt like when someone was being bullied at school and you were just glad it wasn’t you? That was the vibe.”

‘Like the bully in the playground’

Since the release of Everything Happens for a Reason, a host of players including Ben Youngs, Jonny May and Hartley have lined up to defend Jones and his methods. If the Australian was such a bully, why does Care appear on an island with his allegations?

Firstly, the majority of staff who left under Jones would sign a non-disclosure agreement which would prohibit them going on the record with allegations. Secondly, those who were not covered by NDAs live in fear that of being ostracised by the industry in which Jones has many tentacles. Would Care have come forward without the incentive of a publishing advance? Probably not and thus the RFU and Jones can say it is only one individual making these claims. Equally, the example of Neal Hatley, who has followed him from England to Australia and now Japan, shows that not all coaches live in complete fear of Jones. “I think you vote with your feet,” Hatley said. “This is the third time that I have had an opportunity to work with him and it is the third time I jumped at it.”

Yet Care’s testimony of the way that Jones would mercilessly target individuals such as prop Kieran Brookes is endorsed by multiple sources. “It is like the bully in the playground where you are just relieved it’s not you,” one former support staff member said.

“What Danny has written about not wanting to be picked on, I could not agree with more,” a former coach said.

‘Sport cannot be compared to the normal world’

How much this crossed a line of what is acceptable in a professional sporting environment is a matter of perspective. Hartley believes that, as captain, he was ridden harder by Jones than any other individual. Not only was he pushed psychologically, but Jones had him wrestling professional fighting coaches at 6am so he could be the example of work ethic to the rest of the team. It was far from comfortable but this was precisely the point.

“I have a take on this: when you play professional sport from a young age, by the time you get to England, you are pretty thick-skinned,” Hartley said. “I can imagine if you are medically trained or from a different background, to be spoken to directly without any pleasantries, platitudes or being rolled in glitter, it can hurt your feelings. It was hard. It was a hard environment. But it created an environment that performed ultimately. His remit was to win and he delivered on that remit.

“Professional rugby is ugly. It is literally blood, sweat and tears behind closed doors. You only ever see the shiny tip of the spear with the 80-minute performance on Saturday. We only see the highlights. The reality is that it is f---ing ugly preparing. It is hard work. It is basic. It’s competitive. The mundane attention to basics. The monotony of physical and mental routine when your body and mind are saying ‘No thank you.’ To an HR department or a normal civilian, professional sport cannot be compared to the normal world.”

‘You’re not ready for steak. You’re a sausage’

Others push back against this narrative. Hartley, they say, was still part of the inner circle. It was those on the outer fringes, particularly in the support staff, who suffered the most at Jones’s hands. “He would just humiliate people in meetings and was constantly messing with your head,” a source claimed. “He would ask you a question in the meeting which you had discussed the night before and he would say ‘brilliant, mate’ and then in the meeting he would publicly assassinate you.”

Perhaps the most infamous story that has done the rounds is of Jones apologising to a coach and giving him a box, telling him: “I’ve bought you a steak, take it home and eat it with your missus. Enjoy it and please accept my apology.” When he got home, the coach opened the box only to discover there was no steak but sausages. Jones then texted him: “You’re not ready for steak. You’re a sausage.”

There are other far darker stories. “The amount of time he spent playing mind games with people was phenomenal,” a source claimed. “He psychologically broke so many people for no reason other than his own amusement.”

‘The RFU let him get away with murder’

It is coming up to two years since Jones was sacked after a spell of five wins in 12 games as the RFU’s patience finally ran out. He went on to cause even more carnage in an ill-fated second stint as Australia head coach before returning to Japan.

Anger among the various survivor WhatsApp groups is centred less on Jones than on the RFU for failing to intervene. After all, the RFU knew precisely what it was getting with Jones, who reduced Australian internationals to tears and had Japanese players hiding under tables.

In response to the bullying allegations made by Care, an RFU spokesperson said: “During his time with England, there were no complaints made about Eddie Jones by players either to the RFU or via anonymous feedback surveys or through our confidential whistleblowing service.”

This statement is met with incredulity by one former staff member. “What confidential whistleblowing service?” he said. “That’s a phenomenal lie. How did so many people get out of their contracts if there were no complaints?”

There is a scenario in which the complaints did not make their way all the way up to the top echelons of the RFU, but, in an echo of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation, there seems to have been a distinct lack of curiosity as to why Jones cycled through an estimated 46 members of backroom staff during his seven-year tenure. Again, Hartley argues this is just a product of Jones’s high standards. “It is like climbing Mount Everest,” Hartley said. “The higher you go, the harder it is. That’s why people fall off and don’t ultimately make it.”

You do not have to be a bully to be a genius. Similarly, not all geniuses are bullies. Like Jobs, Jones definitely had strands of both. He provided English rugby with its best moments since the 2003 World Cup but too many blind eyes were turned towards his behaviour. “The blame isn’t on Eddie,” a former staff member said. “The blame is on the RFU for allowing him to get away with murder.”