[5] He is married to Hiroko Jones, a Japanese woman whom he met while teaching at the International Grammar School in Sydney.

[10] [11] He attended La Perouse Public School in the city's South-East, alongside Mark, Glen and Gary Ella.

[16] He is described in the Randwick Hall of Fame as follows: "A light-weight and mobile hooker who played 210 club games from 1981 to 1991, scoring 14 tries [56pts].

"[citation needed] In 1994 Jones gave up his career as a teacher and school principal to coach his former club Randwick.

Notably, while with the Brumbies, it was Jones who was credited with discovering George Smith while at a trial for a rugby league team, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

He was appointed head coach of Australia before their Tri Nations Series 14 days later, following Rod Macqueen's retirement.

[20] Under Jones, Australia won the 2001 Tri Nations, and then entered their home World Cup in 2003 as third favourites behind New Zealand and England.

They managed to upset the All Blacks in the semi-final before losing to England in the final in extra time through a last-minute drop goal.

His last match was an away defeat to the Bulls by a Super Rugby record margin of 89 points, which led to mounting calls in the media for him to be sacked.

[25] During his time at the Reds he was also fined $10,000 for calling the performance of referee Matt Goddard "disgraceful" and "lacking common sense" after a close 6–3 loss to his former side the Brumbies.

[27] He was criticised by the ARU Chief Executive John O'Neill for taking up a job to try to help Australia's rivals.

[30] However, he announced in February that he would be stepping down at the end of the season for personal reasons,[31] but he then quit early in March 2009 after disagreements with the board.

Following the resignation of Sir John Kirwan, Jones was appointed in 2012 as head coach of the Japan national team, to lead them to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

[35] Despite losing all three of his first Pacific Nations Cup matches by narrow margins, in November 2012 Jones coached the side to their first ever wins in Europe, beating Romania and Georgia.

In 2013, Jones led Japan to their sixth consecutive championship win in the Asian Five Nations, where they achieved a tournament record score of 121–0 against the Philippines.

During the 2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals, Japan lost their series with the Māori All Blacks 2–0, but went on to secure an 18–13 win over Romania.

[42] The RFU paid a compensation figure of £100,000 to release him from his contract with the Stormers due to a break clause in the agreement.

[44] He agreed a four-year deal to become England's first foreign head coach, that would see him lead the team through the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

In 2016, the coaching team led England to their first Grand Slam in 13 years, when they defeated all their opponents at the Six Nations Championship.

In Jones' first home game on 27 February 2016, he led England to a 21–10 victory over Ireland, before they went on to beat Wales 25–21 two weeks later; at one point in the match they were leading the Welsh team 19–0, but then conceded three tries in the second half.

In June 2017, Jones took an inexperienced side for a two-test series in Argentina; the team included 18 uncapped players, eight of whom were less than 21 years old.

Another close-fought test against New Zealand a week later also finished with a single-point scoreline difference (15–16), but this time in favour of the opposition.

The win against the Wallabies was England's sixth consecutive victory over the Australians, continuing their perfect record against Jones' former team during his tenure.

[51] Jones claimed that his team had a recurring "mental block" that needed fixing after a similar incident three weeks previously against Wales.

South Africa overpowered England in the final a week later to deliver a 32–12 defeat, ending Jones' ambition of leading his team to World Cup glory in Japan.

[55][56][57][58][59] In January 2023, Jones was re-appointed as the head coach of Australia,[60] replacing Dave Rennie, and returning to his former post after 17 years and 63 days.

Jones' last match against South Africa in Pretoria was in the 2005 Tri Nations Series, which ended in a 22–16 defeat.

[75] Due to suffering three consecutive defeats, Australia finished wooden spooners for the first time since the expansion of the competition in 2012.

On 25 September 2023, the day after Australia lost to Wales, it was reported that Jones had held an interview for the job as coach of Japan, while in France preparing for the World Cup.

[82] In December 2023, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced the re-appointment of Eddie Jones as its head coach, a position he had previously held from 2012 to 2015.