A top talkback host, who is also the former coach of Australia’s national rugby team, has gone on trial, accused of sexual offending against multiple men and boys.

Alan Jones, 85, is charged with 20 counts of indecent assault and two of sexual touching without consent.

He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Jones arrived at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Monday morning for the start of the judge-alone trial, which is expected to continue for months.

More than 70 witnesses will be called to give evidence.

Jones and his lawyers declined to answer reporters’ questions outside the court.

Jones coached the Wallabies – Australia’s highly regarded national rugby team – from 1984 to 1987. Under his leadership, the team won 86 of their 102 matches.

Over the past two decades, he has been best-known as a talkback host, presenting a popular Sydney breakfast radio programme on 2GB. He was regarded as one of the most powerful people in the country’s media landscape.

Jones was also influential in conservative politics, and was a speechwriter for Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who was in power from 1975 to 1983.

Police set up a strike force to investigate Jones after The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2023 that Jones used his position of power, first as a schoolteacher and later as a popular broadcaster, to prey on a number of young men.

None of the complainants can be identified for legal reasons.

Prosecutor Georgina Wright said in her opening address on Monday that one of the complainants was about 16 years old and a budding sports champion when he first met Jones.

Jones is accused of committing nine offenses against the man, including kissing him multiple times without consent and touching him while the man was driving.

The complainant “felt trapped and didn’t know what to do”, Wright told the court.

Another complainant, who was 21 years old and worked on Jones’ radio program, would testify that Jones called him “darling” and groped the man while he was driving, Wright told the court.

Jones has repeatedly denied the allegations since he was arrested in 2024.

“These allegations are either baseless or they distort the truth,” he said a month after his arrest.