Former Australia coach Alan Jones has yet to indicate whether he will apply for a second stint at the helm – but may have jeopardised his chances by again criticising the Wallabies set-up.
Candidates must submit their applications to the Australian Rugby Union by Friday, with some reports suggesting Jones could throw his hat in the ring.
Jones led the 1984 Wallabies on their historic ‘Grand Slam’ tour which saw them defeat England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Current Wallabies fly-half Berrick Barnes was not even born.
Jones, now an outspoken Sydney radio personality, has been highly critical of the national set-up in recent weeks.
"We’ve got to stop pretending we’re a glorified game of rugby league and play rugby union," Jones said.
"And that means that forwards have to do what forwards have to do… a forward’s job is to get the opposition forwards out of the back line and that means it gives the backs space to be as backs.
"The players are frustrated, the public’s frustrated and the scoreboard’s frustrated."
Jones hit back at his detractors who claim his views are irrelevant in the professional era.
"The argument that ‘oh you’re out of touch’ is a laughable argument," he said. "I’ve been looking at the game, talking about the game for ever since I stopped coaching in the game.
"But there are still 15 players and there’s still a football – you’ve got to decide what you do with the players and what you decide with the football."
Jones also called for the game’s administrators to persist with the current laws of the game.
"We’ve got to stop tampering with the laws. The laws aren’t a problem at all," he said. "If you saw the way Argentina played (in the Rugby World Cup)… and they are an amateur side.
"The Argentinian side weren’t at camps in Coffs Harbour, they didn’t have 18 coaches and they weren’t on million-dollar budgets but they played rugby which was very attractive and they dished up France.
"This is not rocket science. We’ve got to stop looking for excuses. The answer is what we are asking the players to do which is how we’re coaching them.
"The coaching staff has got to change and the coaching strategy has got to change.
"If we pretend that those things aren’t necessary then we’re sewing the seeds of further failure."
