The RFU have now officially announced that Eddie Jones will take over as England head coach on a four year deal beginning in December. Despite the fact that he only began work as the Stormers' coach last week, it's been clear for the past few days that Eddie Jones would be the man to lead England into the coming Six Nations campaign. Jones agreed a deal to take over at the Super Rugby franchise in advance of the World Cup.
However, leading Japan to a win over South Africa saw his stock rise even higher and when Stuart Lancaster stepped down as England coach it seemed Jones was always a front runner for the job. The Stormers may not have been happy to lose their new coach after a week but with Jones keen to take up the challenge and a compensation deal believed to be in the region of £100,000 agreed, the South African outfit agreed to release Jones from his contract.
A statement from Jones this morning has thanked the Stormers for allowing him to take up the England job.
Firstly my thanks must go to Rob Wagner and everyone at Western Province Rugby for understanding my decision and allowing me to return to the international stage so quickly.
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.
I’m now looking forward to working with the RFU and the players to move beyond the disappointment England suffered at the World Cup and hope to build a new team that will reflect the level of talent that exists within the English game. I believe the future is bright for England.
Jones will be in position to lead England into the coming Six Nations campaign and we can only hope he doesn't have too much of a positive effect ahead of the meeting with Ireland in Twickenham on February 27th.
