Who is Eddie Jones? A profile of the new England head coach

A look at th career of new England head coach Eddie Jones

Former Australia and Japan boss Eddie Jones has been unveiled as the new England head coach after signing a four-year contract to replace Stuart Lancaster.

Jones drew widespread praise for the way he guided Japan to three victories in the recent Rugby World Cup, but he has a long and illustrious career in the sport that stretches back to the mid-eighties.

Having played as a hooker for Australian club Randwick and provincial side New South Wales, Jones turned his hand to coaching and in 1994, took the reins of Randwick before moving to Japan.

Jones took charge of the Tokai University side, as well as assisting the Japanese national team before joining Suntory Sungoliath, a Japanese club that he would return to later in his career.

But the chance to return to Australia arose in 1998 and Jones seized his chance with Super Rugby side ACT Brumbies, where he guided them to a runners-up spot in 2000 before becoming the first non-New Zealand side to win the title a year later.

It was this success, and the victory over the British and Irish Lions with Australia A, that secured Jones the national team job after Rod MacQueen retired, and Jones immediately made his impact felt as the Wallabies won the Tri-Nations that year.

However, the 2003 Rugby World Cup on home soil ultimately ended in failure as Australia suffered a nail-biting extra-time defeat by England in the final, although Jones was rewarded for the run to the final with a new contract through to the end of the next World Cup in 2007.

He wouldn’t last that long though, as a run of seven straight defeats in 2005 saw him sacked at the end of the year. Jones would join Premiership side Saracens on a consultancy role until the end of the 2005/06 season as well as take up the head coach role with the Queensland Reds, but after finishing bottom of Super Rugby Jones was again sacked, having lasted just one season.

The good times would return though, as Jones became a technical advisor to Jake White’s South Africa side that went on to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup – ironically where he would have been coaching Australia had he not been sacked.

Jones would return to Saracens for two years as director of rugby, although his tenure would end acrimoniously after a dispute with the club’s board saw him step down in 2009 when he would return to Japan to coach Suntory Sungoliath’s once again.

This time around Jones was able to persuade a wealth of talent to follow him with the likes of Australian flanker George Smith and South African duo Fourie du Preez and Danie Rossouw joining the club.

Winning the 2012 Top League title saw him signed up to become the Japan head coach, where he won three straight Asian Five Nations Championship and guided Japan to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where they would beat South Africa, Samoa and the United States only to go out in the pool stages on points difference after a heavy defeat by Scotland.

Jones’ career

1994 – Randwick

1995-1996 – Tokai University

1996 – Japan (assistant)

1997 – Suntory Sungoliath

1998-2001 - ACT Brumbies

2001-2005 - Australia

2006 - Saracens (consultant)

2007 - Queensland Reds

2007 - South Africa (assistant)

2007-2009 - Saracens

2009 - 2012 - Suntory Sungoliath

2012-2015 - Japan