Australian Eddie Jones named as England's rugby union head coach

November 22, 2015

Australian was named on Friday as 's new rugby union head coach by the  (RFU), making him the first foreign coach to be appointed to the role. Jones has signed a four year contract after resigned from the post in early November following England's disappointing performance at this year's.

Jones, 55, is to leave a position he was appointed to only two months ago as coach of Cape Town's in South Africa. Jones said: "The opportunity to take the reins in possibly the world’s most high-profile international rugby job doesn’t come along every day however, and I feel fortunate to be given the opportunity."

Jones led Australian side to the first  win by a non-New Zealand team. While he was head coach of they won the  and were finalists against England at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

He was also assistant to the year of their 2007 World Cup win. His side, with ten consecutive victories, broke the record for the number of successive wins for a second tier rugby union team. His first game as England head coach is to be against in the  at  in Edinburgh on February 6.

Chief Executive of the RFU Ian Ritchie said he is confident Jones has the right credentials for the role. "We promised to recruit a coach with proven international experience and we have done that. Eddie is a world-class coach, with extensive experience at the highest level with Australia, South Africa and Japan."