Former England and Australia boss Eddie Jones has been confirmed as Japan’s new head coach through to 2028.
Jones will take charge of the Brave Blossoms for the second time, having previously coached them from 2012 to 2015.
After coaching Australia at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Jones resigned soon after the tournament despite having a contract through to 2027.
This move to Japan has long been rumoured. There were reports during the World Cup that Jones held a job interview with Japan for the vacancy before the tournament started, despite having the long-term contract with Australia.
Jones repeatedly denied these reports during the competition, as the Wallabies’ tournament came to a premature end in the group stages.
But the relationship between Jones and Rugby Australia deteriorated and he announced his departure on Oct. 29.
“When you’ve had 20 years of unsuccessful rugby, it’s because something is wrong in the system,” Jones said at the time.
“The system needs to change. We went in with a plan and it’s unable to be changed so I felt like my job would be compromised for the next four years, which I wasn’t prepared to do.”
Jones replaces the outgoing Jamie Joseph and will steer Japan into the 2027 Rugby World Cup, which will be held in Australia. He masterminded their famous 34-32 win over South Africa in the 2015 World Cup, a performance which saw him appointed as England head coach.
He won three Six Nations titles with England across his seven-year tenure, and led them to the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, where they lost to South Africa. He left the job with England with a 73% winning record, the highest of any coach of the men’s team.
The short spell with the Wallabies followed and Jones will now take charge of Japan from Jan. 1.