Blazer brigade - Eddie Jones insults British and Irish Lions coaches

Blazer v sweater - a formally attired Warren Gatland and more casual Eddie Jones during the Six Nations. Photo / Photosport

Many people see the British and Irish Lions as the last remaining representatives of a more romantic rugby age.

The job of coaching them - and combining players from four rival European teams into a cohesive unit - is seen as a great sporting challenge.

But not in the Eddie Jones' book.

Jones, who has coached just about everybody else, has no intention of putting his name forward for the next Lions assignment, a tour of South Africa in 2021.

The current England boss has told the Sydney Telegraph the Lions are not for him.

"The last thing I want to do is spend eight weeks in a blazer," he said.

"That's an ambassador job. I'm a coach.

"I'd rather coach the Queensland Sheffield Shield team."

They are bizarre comments considering the Lions' storied history and the image of the men who have led them.

Coaches like Carwyn James and Ian McGeechan were seen as far more influential than members of the blazer brigade.

But the comments could also be seen as a put down of Warren Gatland, who guided the Lions to a surprise drawn series against the All Blacks in 2017.

Jones is not ruling himself out of every job possibility though.

Outgoing Welsh boss Gatland has been touted as a Wallabies contender, with Michael Cheika expected to be in his last season. Jones might also be in the hunt.

On a return to the Wallaby job, which he was sacked from in 2005, Jones said: "I don't think I would ever say never, but it's not something I have really thought about."

Jones has been monitoring Super Rugby, with a World Cup quarter-final showdown between England and Australia a possibility.

"One thing they are not short of is talent," Jones said of the Cheika-coached Wallabies, who have an awful record against England.