Australian Jones set to be appointed England coach - reports

By Alan Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - Australian Eddie Jones is expected to become England's first foreign rugby union head coach with an official announcement imminent, British media reported on Thursday. The BBC and British newspaper websites said the former Australia and Japan coach was in London on Thursday to finalise the details of the contract with Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Ian Ritchie. Sky Sports said terms had been agreed. Media reports have indicated the job will command an annual salary of 500,000 pounds. Jones, 55, was already the hot favourite to take over the position vacated by Stuart Lancaster, with one British bookmaker taking no further bets after money poured in on the Australian. "The gamble suggests that at the very least Eddie Jones is on a shortlist and an announcement could be imminent," said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams earlier this week. Ritchie had said England wanted someone with "proven international experience" and Jones is one of the few elite coaches in world rugby who comfortably fits the bill. He led Japan to their best World Cup showing in England, where they managed three victories, including a shock 34-32 win over South Africa. He also coached the Wallabies to the World Cup final in 2003 and was an assistant to Jake White when the Springboks won the 2007 tournament. The Australian recently took charge of South African Super Rugby side the Stormers and had ruled himself out of contention for the England job when he arrived in Cape Town. But the Daily Telegraph said it understood the RFU had agreed to pay the Stormers 100,000 pounds in compensation. Lancaster left the England post "by mutual consent" last week, despite having four years left on his contract, following England's pool-stage exit from the World Cup on home soil. Not everyone would be impressed if Jones took the job, however. Former Australia international David Campese told the BBC that such a move would show how "desperate" England were. "Don't you want an Englishman to coach an English team and win the World Cup?," he said. "It obviously shows that after the World Cup you guys are lost. "You've got all the money in the world, and all the players, and you've still got no idea how to play the game." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)