Eddie Jones Appointed England Rugby Head Coach: Latest Details and Reaction

Eddie Jones has been appointed as the new head coach of the England rugby team on a four-year deal.

Confirmation of the Australian's appointment was reported on Friday by England Rugby:

He will take up the role in December and succeeds Stuart Lancaster, who vacated the position earlier this month following England's disastrous 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign.

Jones, 55, will be England's first-ever foreign coach, and his opening match in charge will be the opening Six Nations clash against Scotland at Murrayfield on Feb. 6.

The front-runner for the job since Lancaster's departure, Jones joins the England setup from Super Rugby outfit the Stormers, having only taken up the job with the South African franchise in September.

He had previously led the Japanese national side and engineered, arguably, the World Cup's biggest-ever upset in September by beating South Africa 34-32.

He said he is looking forward to helping England move beyond the disappointment of their home World Cup, where they were knocked out in the group stages, per England Rugby:

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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.

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The England job represents Jones' third head coaching role on the international stage.

He previously had a spell in charge of Australia between 2001 and 2005, during which his Wallabies side were defeated by England in the 2003 World Cup final.

As suggested by Rugby World's Owain Jones, former England captain Steve Borthwick could join Jones' coaching setup having worked with him at Japan and Saracens:

Despite England's woes at the World Cup, Jones has a talented group of players to work with and will be confident he can create a winning team.

He has the experience and the track record to suggest he could be hugely successful with England.

It will take some time to recover from the World Cup disappointment, and Jones may well make some big changes—captain Chris Robshaw could be fearing for his job, per Neil Squires of the Daily Express.

But the talent is most certainly there for England to become a force in world rugby once again and, in Jones, there is a high-quality coach now at the helm.