'He knew it was coming': Eddie reveals Ange text exchange while making eyebrow-raising claims about Wallabies

Eddie Jones says Ange Postecoglou knew he was going to get sacked by Nottingham Forest as Japan's rugby coach shared details of their text exchange.

Australia's Postecoglou was fired by Forest after a 3-0 Premier League loss to Chelsea at the weekend.

He went winless from eight games in an ugly 39-day tenure.

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"The more you coach the more you learn that your day will come. Don't look too far ahead. I've been sacked a couple of times now and it hurts, it puts you in a world of hurt," Jones told SEN ahead of Saturday's clash with the Wallabies in Tokyo.

"Ange Postecoglou just got sacked, we were just texting each other the other day. He knew it was coming but it still hurts. Hurts like buggery."

Former Wallabies coach Jones was fired by England in 2022 after winning just five of 12 Tests that year.

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"I was the first (non-English England coach) and I reckon I'll be the last," he said.

"The English, they invented the game and they're very hierarchical and status driven. There was always pressure, they look down at Australians, they really do."

Jones quit the Wallabies after a disastrous 2023 Rugby World Cup and joined Japan for a second stint.

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He claimed he was going to win the World Cup this year but he is now viewing the experience in a rather different light.

"In reality, I knew I was on a hiding to nothing," Jones said, in a line that will raise eyebrows at Rugby Australia.

"You know, we had four days before the first Rugby Championship game and we only had a week and a half before the World Cup. I knew it was gonna be tough, but I wanted to do it. I wanted to shake up Australian rugby and we got a few things done.

"We got Joseph Suaalii over the line and look what he's done for the game."

Jones made six changes to his starting side, including bringing Michael Leitch and Ben Gunter into the backrow for the clash with his former team.

Totemic former skipper Leitch will line up at No.8 to win his 90th cap, while Gunter starts at blindside flanker with Kanji Shimokawa on the openside.

Gunter is one of four Australian-raised players in the matchday squad along with centre Dylan Riley, lock Jack Cornelsen and replacement outside back Sam Greene.

In other changes from the Brave Blossoms team that lost to Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup final last month, Yoshitaka Yazaki starts at fullback and Kippei Ishida returns on the right wing.

Tomoki Osada swaps over to the left wing and Shogo Nakano partners Riley in the centres with Charlie Lawrence dropping to the bench.

Captain Warner Dearns will pack down in the second row with Cornelsen, while Lee Seung-sin retains the flyhalf spot to win his 25th cap as playmaker.

Dearns is the son of New Zealand netball great Tanya and will play for the Hurricanes next year.

Joe Schmidt earlier announced 13 changes to Australia's starting side and a new captain for the matchup against Jones, his predecessor as Wallabies coach.

Japan have never beaten Australia in six previous attempts.

"I enjoy beating Australia - I coached against them 10 times for England and beat them nine times," Jones told a press conference after naming his side.

"Playing against you own country, there's always a certain amount of different feeling involved in it, but it just brings out the extreme competitive spirit within yourself."

Jones said there was "a winning opportunity" for Japan if they can unsettle an unfamiliar Wallabies lineup, led by two-Test flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny and missing stars Suaalii, Max Jorgensen and Fraser McReight.

"When you're playing a team that has got a lot of players that are playing for a spot and they want to be the starting guys, if things don't go their way at the start of the game, they can get frustrated," he said.

"Our job is to bring out that frustration. Our job is to be at them the whole time. We realise that it's a big task for us but we feel like we're up to it. We're ready to take them on." - with Reuters

JAPAN (15-1): Yoshitaka Yazaki, Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Shogo Nakano, Tomoki Osada, Lee Seung-sin, Shinobu Fujiwara, Michael Leitch, Kanji Shimokawa, Ben Gunter, Warner Dearns (c), Jack Cornelsen, Shuhei Takeuchi, Hayate Era, Kenta Kobayashi

Reserves: Kenji Sato, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Keijiro Tamefusa, Tyler Paul, Tiennan Costley, Kenta Fukuda, Charlie Lawrence, Sam Greene

WALLABIES (15-1): Andrew Kellaway, Corey Toole, Josh Flook, Hunter Paisami, Dylan Pietsch, Tane Edmed, Jake Gordon, Rob Valetini, Carlo Tizzano, Nick Champion de Crespigny (c), Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Jeremy Williams, Zane Nonggorr, Josh Nasser, Angus Bell

Reserves: Billy Pollard, Aidan Ross, Tom Robertson, Josh Canham, Harry Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Hamish Stewart, Filipo Daugunu

Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)