Rugby Australia accepts Eddie Jones’s resignation as search for next Wallabies coach begins

Eddie Jones’s tenure as Wallabies coach is officially over after Rugby Australia formally accepted his resignation following the team’s disastrous World Cup campaign in France.

RA on Tuesday confirmed the embattled coach’s departure from the national setup and said he would officially leave his post on 25 November.

“Rugby Australia thanks Eddie for his commitment to the Wallabies in 2023, and wishes him the best in his future endeavours,” RA said.

RA’s chief executive, Phil Waugh, will hold a media conference in Sydney later on Tuesday.

Jones’s departure comes after a shambolic World Cup campaign during which the Wallabies failed to get out of the group stage for the first time in the team’s history.

Heavy defeats came against Fiji and Wales and Jones ended his second stint in Australian rugby’s top job with a total of just two wins and seven defeats.

He quit his post just 10 months into a five-year contract, leaving RA searching for a new coach who will be charged with rebuilding the team and the sport’s reputation before the 2027 Rugby World Cup on home soil.

“Announcements regarding the future of the Wallabies coaching staff will be made in due course,” the RA said.

The 63-year-old had been heralded as the Wallabies’ saviour when he was appointed as a “captain’s pick” by the

RA chairman, Hamish McLennan, after the axing of the previous incumbent, Dave Rennie.

Jones coached Australia to the World Cup final in 2003, and took England to the 2019 showpiece before being sacked late last year after a run of poor results.

But he made a series of confounding decisions on his return to the Wallabies hot-seat, including naming a young, inexperienced squad for the World Cup and leaving out the longserving skipper Michael Hooper and the playmaker Quade Cooper.

Australia’s players were also rocked when Jones was linked with the Japan coaching vacancy. He denied he had interviewed for the role just days out from the tournament opener in Paris.

Two weeks ago Jones insisted he was “absolutely committed” to overseeing the Wallabies through to the next World Cup in 2027.

But by last weekend he had offered his resignation to the RA hierarchy. It is believed Jones will walk away from his hefty contract without a payout. He insisted he had no other international role to go to, including the Japan position which has yet to be filled.

The World Cup winner Stephen Larkham and fellow former Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar are expected to be RA’s top targets to replace Jones.

Larkham is coaching the ACT Brumbies after taking over from McKellar, who is head coach at Leicester Tigers in the UK.

McKellar was Rennie’s forwards coach, and was believed to be viewed as next in line to succeed the New Zealander, but resigned this year when Jones was appointed to the top job.