Eddie Jones, the England head coach has signed a two-year contract extension seeing him in the office till 2021.
The previous deal of the 57-year-old Australian’s ran until the the end of the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year.
In November 2015, he took this position and has won 22 of his 23 Tests since taking the role and says extending his deal was “not a difficult decision”.
He said: “Coaching England is a dream job for me, and I was delighted to be asked to stay on after the World Cup.”
“I have been completely focused on developing a team capable of being the number one rugby team in the world and winning the World Cup in 2019.
“I never take my role as England head coach for granted and did not presume I would be asked to stay on, but, once the conversations started very recently, it was not a difficult decision to make.”
The RFU board has also agreed a process for finding Jones’ successor, which is likely to involve the appointment of a new head coach by the end of the 2019-20 season.
Until the summer of 2021, the new appointed figure will work with Jones before leading England into the Rugby World Cup in France in 2023.
Jones said: “These are exciting times for English rugby, with a focused and committed squad who are full of potential and determined to win. I will continue to work as hard as I can to make England the world’s best rugby team.”
The clause of a performance-based break clause based on England’s performance at the World Cup in 2019. Steve Brown, the RFU chief executive, “Eddie’s results as England head coach speak for themselves.”
“Under Eddie’s leadership, we have risen from eighth to second in the world – and Eddie won’t be satisfied until we are number one. He has a 95% win rate at the helm, and has been a galvanising force for the RFU, bringing focus, clarity and extraordinary commitment to the role.
“We now have a robust succession planning process in place which will avoid the historically disruptive pattern of resetting the coaching team and performance system every four years. Eddie will be a big part of this process, and wants to ensure a smooth handover to his successor.”
