Eddie Jones was born as one of the three children of his father, Ted, and mother, Nellie Jones.
The pair met in Eta Jima, where Ted Jones, an Australian solder, was stationed during that time.
They immediately fell for one another and got married. The Jones couple moved to Australia in 1956 after Australia allowed Japanese women to enter the country with their husbands.
Edward Jones, born January 30, 1960, is an Australian rugby union coach and former player.
The Tasmania, Australia native started playing at Matraville Sports High School. Later, he played for Randwick and New South Wales as a hooker.
The Randwick Hall of Famer retired from his professional playing career to concentrate on his career as a teacher and school principal.
In 1994, he transitioned from his principal job to a coach for his former club Randwick.
Later, he worked with Tokai University, Tokyo Sungoliath, ACT Brumbies, Saracens, Suntory Sungoliath and Stormers.
Moreover, he has also served as a rugby union coach for different national teams, including Japan, England and Australia (men and women).
Parents: Father Ted And Mother Nellie Jones
The Jones parents had a great impact on the professional coach’s life. Ted and Nellie tied the knot in the early 1950s, and only in 1956 they moved to Australia.
Both of his parents endured a lot in their lives and instilled their life learnings into their kids.
Despite the hardship in their lives, they raised their three kids with a sense of freedom and happiness.
Mother Nellie Jones Is An Extraordinary Women
Eddie Jones’ mother, Nellie Jones, was born to Japanese parents in California.
Her father moved the family to Japan and started living in Hiroshima, which was devastated by the US atomic bomb on August 6, 1945.
Despite looking and speaking like the Japanese, she always felt like an outsider. Nellie began working as an interpreter for the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces in Eta Jima.
Little did she know, this would be where she would meet her future husband, Ted. Besides, Nellie raised three children, Diane, Vicky and Eddie, with her husband, a soldier.
It was tough for her to bring up three kids alone as her husband had to travel to different places.
Moreover, she has been an influential character in their lives as they were brought up in a way that spared them pain.
It was only after Nellie gave her son a copy of David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars that Eddie began to understand his mother’s past.
Father Ted Was A Soldier
Eddie’s father, Ted Jones, was an Australian soldier who supported the US in Japan and Vietnam.
Ted left school at the age of 15 to work in a coal mine and later joined the army.
While he served for his country, he was a part of the occupation forces in Japan following the Second World War.
The relentless work ethic that the rugby coach has comes from his father. Ted used to work part-time jobs while on a leave from his military duty.
Unfortunately, he died in 2013, but he had a permanent impact on his children’s lives.
Eddie does not mention much about his father, but he dedicated his book to his family, specially his father, Ted. The rugby union coach remembers his father as: “A quiet guy. Typical Australian man of that era. Didn’t talk a lot. When he said something, he meant it. Had good principles. Very loyal. A good person.”
