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BRISBANE - It took Eddie Jones more than a year to come to terms with the selection blow that ended his dreams of playing for the Wallabies.
The tenacious yet tiny NSW hooker was bitter throughout 1989 and 1990 after his mentor, Bob Dwyer, overlooked him and gave a reserve grade youngster by the name of Phil Kearns the Australian No 2 jersey.
But Jones can thank Dwyer's decision for leading him on the path which has today seen him awarded a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia.
After hanging up his boots, Jones quickly morphed from a high school teacher to rugby coach.
He coached Japan and took the ACT Brumbies to the top of provincial rugby before winning the Wallabies post in 2001, and taking Australia to within an extra-time field goal of winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
All this came after falling into a job he never wanted when he lost his Randwick A-grade place to Kearns and was given the second grade captaincy in 1990.
"It had a bit of a coaching role and I quite enjoyed it and the game was about to go professional so I decided maybe I'd might give coaching a bit of a lash," said Jones, now in charge of the Queensland Reds.
"I look back on my career and I was lucky to go as high as I did so I don't have any sour grapes at all now but at the time I was pretty disappointed."
There have been few more passionate and dedicated coaches in the world, let alone Australia.
That passion for the game was born during his schooldays when he attended Sydney's Matraville High with the famous Ella brothers -- Mark, Glenn and Gary -- and played under Geoff Mould.
He followed the attacking philosophies of Mould, who led the 1977 Australian Schoolboys to an unbeaten tour the UK, but credited Dwyer as his "best coach by a mile".
Renowned for masterminding the massive 22-10 semi-final upset of New Zealand at the 2003 World Cup, Jones instead nominates a 2000 Super 12 match -- a 47-28 win over the Wellington Hurricanes -- as his finest hour.
He also looks back most proudly at his time with the slick Brumbies from 1998-2001.
"We probably had a period there at the Brumbies where we probably changed the way the game was played," he said.
- AAP
