After an evening of well-meaning – but mostly dull – “this belongs to my whole team” acceptance speeches, Len Ikitau drew a laugh at Sydney Town Hall when claiming the John Eales medal at the Rugby Australia awards on Friday night.

In Exeter, where he has just begun a sabbatical season, Ikitau sent a video message and at the end of his spiel he wished the Wallabies well for the start of their spring tour, in Tokyo on Saturday. The star centre will rejoin the squad in November but will miss the game with Japan.

“Say hi to uncle Eddie for me,” Ikitau said with a grin.

Uncle Eddie is, of course, Eddie Jones – the coach of Japan and predecessor to incumbent Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.

In a fixture announced at the start of 2025, likely arranged to repair a strained relationship between RA and the Japan Rugby Football Union, the Wallabies will meet the Japanese national side at the National Stadium.

It’ll be your standard Test match, but there’s also no escaping the spicy subtext: a reunion between the Wallabies and Jones. The origin of said strain.

Eddie Jones poses for a portrait in Coogee.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

The lowlights of Jones’ second tenure as Wallabies coach in 2023 don’t need an expansive recap.

After the sacking of Dave Rennie, Jones returned amid great fanfare, but a catastrophic season unfolded. After a winless build-up to the Rugby World Cup, Jones bizarrely dumped a large group of experienced players and took the Wallabies’ youngest........

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