Gary Gold has stepped down as the USA Eagles head coach, and Eddie Jones has been linked as a potential replacement.
Gold took charge of the side in 2017 following the departure of John Mitchell and coached the Eagles in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
World Cup failure
The 55-year-old leaves the role after failing to qualify for the 2023 World Cup in France last month. The Eagles fell short of qualifying for the tournament, with Portugal edging the head-to-head on points difference.
It is the first World Cup that the USA hasn’t qualified for the competition since 1995.
Gold’s record
The former Springbok assistant coach had the most successful record of any USA coach and led the side to their highest world ranking of 12th.
“First and foremost, I want to thank Gary for his dedication, passion and service to the USA Men’s Eagles since joining in 2017,” USA Rugby CEO Ross Young said.
“He has brought home the most successful record of any previous coach and helped carry the team to its highest-ever World Rugby ranking of 12 in 2018. The passion Gary has for this program is unquestioned, and we will always appreciate it.”
The union noted that Gold would stay on in the short term to support the review process, as will World Rugby.
“It has been a privilege to work with the amazing playing group at USA Rugby over the past five years, and I want to commend the players and the unbelievable effort they made in trying to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Unfortunately, even though we didn’t lose a game in the FQT, we did not get the outcome we wanted.” Gold said.
The departing head coach apologised to the USA rugby public after failing to qualify for the World Cup, saying: “I really want to apologise to the USA rugby public, the stakeholders, staff and everyone who supported us.”
“As much as I am bitterly disappointed at the end result, we gave it our best shot, and I’m comfortable we gave it everything we had to qualify.”
Jones to take over?
Meanwhile, Jones is set to join Top 14 club Castres as a consultant after he and England Rugby parted ways following his seven-year stint as head coach.
However, reports in England suggest that Jones could return to Test coaching after the 2023 Rugby World Cup with the Eagles.
It is believed that Jones will take up the USA head coach role on an eight-year deal, leading the side through the 2027 World Cup in Australia and the Americans’ home tournament four years later.
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