Early coaching career In 1994 Jones gave up his career as a teacher and school principal to coach his former club Randwick. He then went to
Japan, where he had brief stints coaching
Tokai University,
Japan (as assistant coach) and
Suntory Sungoliath.
ACT Brumbies (1998–2001) Jones returned to Australia in 1998 to coach the
ACT Brumbies. However, he had a disappointing first season in charge, with the club finishing only 10th in the Super 12; he has since said he was "way out of his depth". Jones went on to lead the Brumbies into the best period of their history. In 2000 they were runners-up, losing the final to the Crusaders, but in 2001 he coached them to their first title, the first team from outside
New Zealand to win the tournament. Notably, while with the Brumbies, it was Jones who was credited with discovering
George Smith while at a trial for a rugby league team, the
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
Australia (2001–2005) In 2001 Jones coached
Australia A during the
British & Irish Lions tour of Australia, winning 28–25. Aside from the
national team, Australia A was the only side to win against the touring Lions side. He was appointed head coach of Australia before their
Tri Nations Series later, following
Rod Macqueen's retirement. Under Jones, Australia won the 2001 Tri Nations, and then entered their home
World Cup in 2003 as third favourites behind
New Zealand and
England. They managed to upset the All Blacks in the semi-final before losing to England in the final in extra time through a last-minute drop goal. After the World Cup, Jones was awarded a contract to lead Australia through to the
2007 Rugby World Cup. He also had an offer to coach Japan which he turned down. In 2005, the Wallabies suffered a spate of injuries, losing seven games straight. At the end of their European tour they lost eight of the last nine matches, with the scrum in particular struggling. After a 22–24 loss to
Wales at the
Millennium Stadium on 2 December 2005, Jones' contract was terminated.
Queensland Reds (2007) Just over a month after Jones was relieved of his position as Wallabies head coach, he signed a three-year deal with the
Queensland Reds to take over as head coach after the
2006 Super 14 season. In February 2006 he joined
Saracens in a consultancy role until the end of the season to help them after they were struggling near the bottom of the league. Jones endured a torrid season with the Reds in 2007, who finished bottom of the
Super 14 table, only managing two wins the entire season. Injury spells meant Jones at times had to do without up to eight regulars in his starting team, including the loss of influential Wallabies fullback
Chris Latham even before the season started. His last match was an away defeat to the
Bulls by a Super Rugby record margin of 89 points, which led to mounting calls in the media for him to be sacked. His stint at the Reds is by far the least successful of his coaching career and he resigned after just one season in charge. During his time at the Reds he was also fined $10,000 for calling the performance of referee
Matt Goddard "disgraceful" and "lacking common sense" after a close 6–3 loss to his former side the Brumbies.
South Africa (2007) Later in 2007, Jones turned down an approach from
Fiji to be a technical advisor to the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, and instead was appointed by Springbok coach
Jake White to be a technical advisor for the
South Africa team at the tournament. He was criticised by the ARU Chief Executive
John O'Neill for taking up a job to try to help Australia's rivals. South Africa went on to win the World Cup and Jones was praised for his role in the success, with former coach
Nick Mallett calling the move from White to appoint him a "masterstroke" and crediting Jones with improved backline play by South Africa at the tournament. Despite being an official part of the Springbok coaching team, Jones was not given a
Springbok blazer because he is not South African. He wore his tracksuit instead, a condition in his contract with SA Rugby prior to being appointed. After the World Cup, Jones rejoined Saracens, initially in an advisory role, before taking over the director of rugby role for the 2008/09 season. However, he announced in February that he would be stepping down at the end of the season for personal reasons, but he then quit early in March 2009 after disagreements with the board. He described this period as the worst he has had in rugby.
Return to Japan (2012–2015) After leaving Saracens, Jones rejoined Suntory Sungoliath in Japan. He brought together a strong team, including George Smith,
Fourie du Preez and
Danie Rossouw, whom he had coached previously, and led them to victory in the
Top League title in 2012, winning the final 47–28 against the
Panasonic Wild Knights, as well as two consecutive
All Japan Championship wins. Following the resignation of
Sir John Kirwan, Jones was appointed in 2012 as head coach of the Japan national team, to lead them to the
2015 Rugby World Cup. He quickly took the team in a different direction from Kirwan. His first move as the Japan coach was to reduce the number of foreign players, who had been a prominent part of the Japan team under Kirwan, and to encourage the Japanese to play their own style. He also said his goal was to bring Japan up a level, to be among the top 10. Despite losing all three of his first
Pacific Nations Cup matches by narrow margins,
in November 2012 Jones coached the side to their first ever wins in Europe, beating
Romania and
Georgia. In 2013, Jones led Japan to their sixth consecutive championship win in the
Asian Five Nations, where they achieved a tournament record score of 121–0 against the
Philippines. Japan lost to
Tonga in the opening round of the
2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, and were later defeated by Fiji in round 2. Following these matches, Jones coached the
Brave Blossoms to a series draw against Wales after narrowly losing the first test 18–22 and winning the second test 23–8. This was the first time Japan had recorded a victory over the Welsh. On 16 October, Jones was hospitalised for two days after a suspected
stroke. With his release from hospital, it was announced that he would miss Japan's
2013 end-of-year rugby union tests against New Zealand,
Scotland,
Gloucester,
Russia and
Spain, and that former Australia skills coach and current technical adviser for Japan,
Scott Wisemantel, would coach Japan in the interim for the end-of-year tests. In 2014, Jones secured Japan's seventh consecutive Asian Five Nations title, before jointly winning the
2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup with Fiji. Japan won the Asia/Pacific conference with victories over Canada 34–25 and the United States 37–29. In June of that year, Japan claimed a 26–23 victory over
Italy, which was Japan's tenth consecutive win, a record for a Tier 2 team. During the
2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals, Japan lost their series with the
Māori All Blacks 2–0, but went on to secure an 18–13 win over Romania. Following this victory, Japan rose to ninth in the World Rankings, their highest-ever position, and achieved Jones' aim of reaching the top 10 in the world. In 2015, after securing the
2015 Asian Rugby Championship, Japan suffered three consecutive losses in the
2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. After beating
Canada 20–6, they lost to the
United States, Fiji and Tonga to finish fourth with just one win. Japan later went on to beat
Uruguay twice and Georgia in
World Cup Warm-up matches. At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Japan managed an upset win over
South Africa with a spectacular last-minute try in their first pool match, finishing the match 34–32, an incredible victory with bold determination. However, Japan lost four days later to Scotland 45–10, despite still being in contention at half time. A week later, Japan secured a record victory over
Samoa, winning 26–5, which guaranteed a top three finish for Japan in the pool. In the final match of the pool stage, Japan beat the United States 28–18, meaning that Japan became the first ever nation to record three victories in the pool stage while failing to advance to the knock out stage. That victory was Jones' last in charge of Japan.
Stormers (2015) After completing his duties at the helm of Japan's national team at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Jones joined Super Rugby franchise the
Stormers in
Cape Town on 12 November 2015. Just eight days after joining the Stormers, he was signed by
England Rugby as
Stuart Lancaster's replacement, to become England's first foreign head coach. The
RFU paid a compensation figure of £100,000 to release him from his contract with the Stormers due to a break clause in the agreement. In November 2015, Jones became one of the highest-paid head coaches in world rugby.
England (2015–2022) Jones was named as the new England head coach on 20 November 2015. He agreed a four-year deal to become England's first foreign head coach, that would see him lead the team through the
2019 Rugby World Cup. The deal was extended twice and was scheduled to last until the end of
2023 World Cup. Jones brought in as his assistant coaches
Steve Borthwick from
Bristol, with whom he had also coached Japan, and
Paul Gustard from Saracens. In 2016, the coaching team led England to their first
Grand Slam in 13 years, when they defeated all their opponents at the
Six Nations Championship. They opened with a 15–9 win over Scotland before seeing out Italy 40–9. In Jones' first home game on 27 February 2016, he led England to a 21–10 victory over
Ireland, before they went on to beat Wales 25–21 two weeks later; at one point in the match they were leading the Welsh team 19–0, but then conceded three tries in the second half. England secured the Championship on 13 March with one game in hand when Scotland beat France, meaning that England went into the final round having already secured the title. A 31–21 victory over
France in the final game of the Championship on 19 March saw England win their first Grand Slam since 2003. Three months later, Jones took his English side on a tour of Australia for a
three-test series against Australia; England won the series 3–0 in their first-ever three-test series victory. They scored their most points against Australia in the first test, winning 39–28, and claimed their third consecutive victory over
the Wallabies on Australian soil when they won the second test 23–7, a record-winning streak for the game played in Australia's home territory. The final test confirmed the series whitewash, England winning the match 44–40. During the series, Jones had led England from fourth in the world to second. In the
2016 Autumn Internationals, he guided England through to their 14th consecutive win, 13 of these under his leadership, and they became just the second team after New Zealand to win every one of their games in a calendar year. Jones then led England to a 37–21 win against South Africa, their first victory over
the Springboks since 2006. England later saw off Fiji 58–15, before beating
Argentina 27–14 a week later, this despite an England player being sent off after five minutes. England finished the autumn tests with a 37–21 win over Australia. During the
2017 Six Nations Championship, Jones experienced his first defeat as England head coach when the team travelled to
Dublin for their final game of the Championship, which they lost 9–13. Not only would a win have secured England's second consecutive Grand Slam but it would also have been a record 19th consecutive victory. Despite this disappointment, England were the overall winners of the Championship with wins over France (19–16), Wales (21–16), Italy (36–15), and Scotland (61–21). In June 2017, Jones took an inexperienced side for a
two-test series in Argentina; the team included 18 uncapped players, eight of whom were less than 21 years old. Nevertheless, England won the series 2–0 with a 38–34 victory in the first test and a 35–25 victory in the second. England continued their form during the
2017 Autumn Internationals, winning all three of their tests: 21–8 against Argentina, 30–6 against Australia, and 48–14 against Samoa. England finished the
2018 Six Nations Championship in their lowest-ever position in the league table, and their worst since the
1983 Five Nations Championship, finishing in fifth place having only beaten Italy (46–15) and Wales (12–6). England's consecutive losses to Scotland, France and Ireland were their first triple defeat since 2014. Their loss to Scotland was the first since 2010, and their loss to Ireland was the first at home since 2010. A 45–63 loss against the
Barbarians followed in May of the same year, with former England international
Chris Ashton scoring a hat-trick of tries against his ex-teammates. England's run of defeats continued into the
June test series, when they lost the first two matches of their
three-test series against South Africa. However, they avoided a 3–0 series defeat by winning the third test 25–10 to claim their first win in South Africa since 2000. When former New Zealand and U.S. coach
John Mitchell joined the coaching team as defence coach, England achieved a return win (12–11) against South Africa in a tightly contested match on 3 November in the
2018 Autumn Internationals. Another close-fought test against New Zealand a week later also finished with a single-point scoreline difference (15–16), but this time in favour of the opposition. England then won their remaining autumn tests against Japan (35–15) and Australia (37–18). The win against the
Wallabies was England's sixth consecutive victory over the Australians, continuing their perfect record against Jones' former team during his tenure. England drew 38–38 with Scotland in the
2019 Six Nations Championship, meaning that Scotland retained the
Calcutta Cup. England had led 31–0 just half an hour into the match but Scotland scored six unanswered tries to go 38–31 ahead with five minutes remaining, only for England to tie the score with a converted try in the last play of the match. Jones claimed that his team had a recurring "mental block" that needed fixing after a similar incident three weeks previously against Wales. The 38–38 draw is currently the highest-scoring tied match in international rugby history. Jones guided England to their first World Cup final since 2007 when they beat reigning world champions New Zealand 19–7 in the semi-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup. South Africa overpowered England in the
final a week later to deliver a 32–12 defeat, ending Jones' ambition of leading his team to World Cup glory in Japan. On 6 December 2022, Jones was sacked as England head coach by the RFU following a poor run of results in which England had won just 5 of 12 tests in 2022. Jones left England with a win percentage of 73%, the highest of any England coach.
Return to Australia (2023) In January 2023, Jones was re-appointed as the head coach of Australia, replacing
Dave Rennie, and returning to his former post after . The appointment was reported to be worth
A$4.5 million over the tenure of the appointment, to run until the conclusion of Australia's campaign at the
2027 Rugby World Cup, in which Australia will also host. Jones formally began his role as head coach on 29 January 2023. reportedly only days after the
2022 England tour of Australia. speculation was significantly heightened when Jones was dismissed by the
RFU in December 2022. Jones' first match as head coach of Australia was against South Africa in
Pretoria. Jones' last match against South Africa in Pretoria was in the
2005 Tri Nations Series, which ended in a
22–16 defeat. Although Australia scored the first try of the match, and led for the first fifteen-minutes of the match, It is the Springboks' third biggest victory over Australia by margin. They followed this up with a 31–34 loss to Argentina the following week. Two weeks later, in the
third, and final, round of the
2023 Rugby Championship (which was shortened due to the Rugby World Cup) Australia lost to New Zealand 7–38 at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Due to suffering three consecutive defeats, Australia finished
wooden spooners for the first time since the expansion of the competition in 2012. In the
lead-up to the Rugby World Cup, Australia played just two fixtures: against New Zealand following the conclusion of the Rugby Championship, and one warm-up fixture against hosts France. The match against New Zealand was the closest (alongside Australia–Argentina meeting) Australia had come to a victory during the year, losing 23–20. The latter match (against France), played at the
Stade de France, was another heavy defeat; Australia losing 41–17. By the time of Australia's opening encounter with Georgia in
Pool C of the World Cup, they were 9th in the
World Rugby Rankings (second-best in their pool), and had not won a match from five attempts. At the World Cup, Australia beat Georgia 35–15, and then lost 15–22 to Fiji. This was Fiji's biggest win over Australia, and their first in 69 years. Australia then lost 6–40 to Wales, in a game they effectively needed to win to progress to the knockout stages. This was the biggest defeat of Jones's tenure, and Australia's eighth largest defeat ever. In their last match, Australia defeated Portugal 34–14, but did not advance to the next round. This was the first World Cup when Australia were knocked out in the pool stage.
JRFU controversy On 24 September 2023, seventeen hours before Australia's fixture against Wales, it was reported by Tom Decent of
The Sydney Morning Herald that Jones had held a
Zoom interview with the
Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) for the position of head coach.
The Sydney Morning Herald cited anonymous sources with knowledge of negotiations that claimed Jones took an online Zoom interview with JRFU officials on August 25, fifteen days before Australia's
opening game of the
2023 Rugby World Cup. After Australia's exit from the
2023 Rugby World Cup Jones continually denied he was involved in an interview with the JRFU, and spoke to ''
The Sydney Morning Herald's''
Peter FitzSimons to add: "It's false... There's no named source for these stories, so there's no credibility about the story to start with. Secondly, the president of Japan Rugby happens to be a very close associate of mine. Every time I go to Japan, I have coffee with him. We talk about rugby. Have I met Japanese representatives? Yes. But I have done that for 30 years." In the same interview Jones said the last JRFU official he had spoken to was in February 2023. In May 2025, Jones said that he was asked by the JRFU for his views on who should take the head coach position of Japan, and that any interviews he had with the JRFU took place after he resigned from the role with Australia. On 29 October 2023, Jones resigned as coach of Australia.
Return to Japan (2023) In December 2023, the
Japan Rugby Football Union announced Jones's re-appointment as its head coach, a position he had previously held from 2012 to 2015. ==International coaching statistics==