Eddie Jones rules out bossing the British Lions against New Zealand next summer after historic England success in Australia
Coach insists he will spend 'every minute' of his four-year Red Rose reignmaking them the world's best
ENGLAND boss Eddie Jones swears he is “completely unavailable” to lead the British Lions against New Zealand next summer.
Jones said: “I signed a four-year contract to make England the best team in the world and I’m going to spend every minute doing that.
“If I took the Lions job I’d have to spend anything from six to 12 months not doing that.
“I’m completely un- available — completely unavailable.”
Aussie Jones, 56, has won the Grand Slam and a series in Australia after just SEVEN months in charge.
But Red Rose supremo Ian Ritchie expects Jones to be in charge for England’s summer tour to Argentina while the Lions tackle the All Blacks.
Ritchie, who also sits on the Lions board, said: “I think it is categoric. We did not want Eddie to do it and he did not want to do it.
“I explained that all quite categorically at the Lions board meeting as well that Eddie was not up for it.
“Both us of feel this way that between now and 2019 Eddie’s focus is on the World Cup — and nothing will change that.
“Eddie has been so successful in the games he has had with us that people say ‘why not?’, which is always a nice thing. But it ain’t going to change.”
England's battered and bruised ‘Dad’s Army’ were being patched-up after their Cook Cup heroics.
The steely defence marshalled by coach Paul Gustard and led by golden oldies Dylan Hartley, Chris Robshaw and James Haskell was one you would not have given a chance seven months ago.
Robshaw took a hammering after last year’s World Cup flop, Hartley missed out on the squad because of a ban and Haskell looked the most un-loved member of Stuart Lancaster’s old guard.
But the trio’s part in Saturday’s series-clinching win — when England made a whopping 182 tackles to Australia’s 53 shows just how crucial they are to Eddie Jones’ new regime.
It was no fluke, either. Skipper Hartley said: “While it is physically draining the reward and the morale lift you get after not letting someone over your try line after 20-odd phases is a huge lift.
“We train for those situations, 20-odd phases and it prepared ourselves for a hell of a challenge.
“That was the key challenge for us, the defensive efforts.
“It doesn’t take a lot of skill to be defensively sound. It takes a lot of want and a lot of will, so that was the key.
“We set the tone. There was a bit of niggle and I was proud we didn’t take a backwards step.”
Haskell’s defensive effort had been so huge even Australian fans gave him a standing ovation when he went off eight minutes from time.
It looks unlikely the Wasps flanker, 31, will be fit for Saturday’s Third Test after injuring his left foot.
He made the flight from Melbourne to Sydney with his leg strapped into a protective boot.
But Robshaw, 30, will be there and Hartley plans to lead the side as England go for a 3-0 whitewash.
Hooker Hartley, 30, added: “It’s the challenge, isn’t it? I said last week we could easily let the egos creep in, let the social media in, let you guys creep in with the reviews and everyone goes ‘yeah, we’re awesome’.
“The true challenge as a group is how we want to leave this tour. Do we want to be 2-1 or 3-0?
“I want to be 3-0. So we need to flick the switch and we go again.
“You know what, even the players on the sideline were saying that.
“I know we were hugging and fist-pumping and stuff but we were saying we need to go again next week.
“We don’t want to leave with a sour taste.
“There’s motivation for us so we’ll prepare for this, the whole 32 — it’s not just the 23, there are nine other guys who have been driving the guys.
“Their energy has been brilliant so again they’ll be driving training next week.”
Jones is sure to make changes for the Sydney Test with rookies Henry Slade, Jack Clifford, Elliot Daly and Ben Te’o all likely to feature.
Jones revealed: “I’ve written down the 23 for next week and there will be a few changes. In all honesty, when I looked at the team for last Saturday, there were some guys there with only 80 minutes left in them.
“They’ve been up since June last year, some are starting to show some signs of battle-weariness so we’re going to have to make some changes.
“Knowing Michael Cheika and Stevie Larkham, I would expect they’ll have an even more outrageous attack plan. Maybe they’ll change selection a bit. I won’t pick his side for them.”
Jones has now won his first eight games in charge, leading England to the Grand Slam, a first-ever series win in Australia and from eighth to second in the world rankings — behind New Zealand.
The Aussie, 56, added: “This week is the most important week, so I’m not getting too carried away. It’s nice to win, to have the series done but we want to win 3-0 then no one can argue that you’re not the better team.
“You win a series 3-0 and no one can say ‘it’s this referee’s decision, they did this, that, we weren’t happy with this’.
“You win 3-0 then people have to say ‘this team is conclusively better than the other team’. That’s what we want to be.
“Complacency always sits there. We’ll have to work next week because everyone is going to be good game now.
“We’ve got to make sure we find 23 players who can fix their minds on the job for next week."