'A little bit weird': England cross paths with Eddie Jones in Japan Test

20/06/2024 17:00

Steve Borthwick's side face Jones's Brave Blossoms in a one-off Test in Tokyo before heading to New Zealand

As Eddie Jones surveyed the 40-odd reporters and six camera crews crammed into a windowless room on the fifth floor of a Tokyo tower block it almost felt like the old days. The last time he was in charge of a Test side in this city it was the 2019 Rugby World Cup final and he was coaching England. Five years on, however, it is not just the badge on his chest that has changed.

For a start he has left two high-profile jobs and re-hired by the Japan Rugby Football Union for a second stint in charge of the Brave Blossoms. And now gazing impassively across at him from the England camp is his former assistant Steve Borthwick, with whom he has worked on and off since 2008 when they were both working for Saracens. The past master is about to be reunited with a former apprentice who knows him inside out.