Australia show Jones the door

AUSTRALIAN rugby officials will be hoping that Eddie Jones’ departure as national coach will end a destabilising period that threatened to undermine preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

Jones was renowned as an obsessive tactician but his inability to improve Australia’s dismal away form convinced the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) not to let him see out the end of his contract.

Jones, 45, had also faced criticism for his autocratic style, marked by the departure of a number of coaching assistants in recent years.