Eddie Jones has been named head coach of Japan for the second time.
The Japan Rugby Football Union stated that the former England manager will start his new role on January 1.
Following a miserable World Cup performance in France, Jones announced his resignation as Australia’s head coach.
Although he consistently refuted the reports, he was initially connected to the Japan position in September.
Between 2012 and 2015, the 63-year-old led Japan to victory over South Africa in the World Cup, a memorable triumph that took place in Brighton.
Following the Wallabies’ worst Rugby World Cup campaign, which included defeats to Fiji and Wales that saw the 1991 and 1999 winners exit at the pool stage for the first time, Jones announced his resignation as Australia’s head coach at the end of October.
A few days prior to his team’s last World Cup warm-up, Jones—whose mother and wife are Japanese—denied to the media during the tournament that he had been interviewed for the Japan position.
Jamie Joseph, who guided Japan’s Brave Blossoms to a pool-stage exit in France and the World Cup quarterfinals on home soil in 2019, will be replaced by Jones.
Following his dismissal by England in December of last year, Jones took a leave of absence in January to take up a second position as Australia’s coach. In his first role, he guided the Wallabies to the 2003 World Cup final.
Immediately after the Wallabies lost all five of their test matches leading up to the World Cup, Jones declared that Australia will win a third World Cup in France.
After nine Test matches in 2023, he departed the Wallabies with two victories (over Georgia and Portugal) and seven defeats, finishing ninth in the world.
Despite leading the Brave Blossoms to an incredible shock against South Africa during the 2015 World Cup, Jones is still highly revered in Japan.