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Cape Town – Eight days after introducing him to the local media in his official Stormers shirt, the franchise on Friday confirmed what was a pretty badly-kept secret for a couple of days: Eddie Jones has instead taken the lucrative England coaching post.
CONFIRMED: Jones ditches Stormers for England
Whether you want to argue that his reign lasted just over a week or from the time he was first announced as accepting the Newlands job soon after masterminding Japan’s famous World Cup upset of the Springboks in Brighton on September 19 – almost exactly two months ago – his exit in a flash has left plenty of rugby fans aghast in this city and further afield.
If it is any consolation to them, he nevertheless fails by some distance to be the shortest-lived managerial/coaching appointment in professional sports history.
Perhaps one of the hardest “feats” to eclipse is that of former Fulham, QPR and West Ham striker Leroy Rosenior, who in 2007 agreed to a second stint as manager of English League Two club Torquay United (these days a non-league outfit).
The Daily Telegraph credits him as “current holder of the record for shortest spell as (English football) manager” considering the circumstances of his period – if you can even call it that – in the hot seat.
“(He) had the misfortune of being appointed as the club were being taken over by a local consortium.
“Papers signed, they wanted their own man in (Paul Buckle) and Rosenior was gone in 600 seconds.”
Populist tabloid The Sun concurs of the 10-minute tenure: “It’s unlikely ever to be beaten.”
Even if in rugby union, Eddie Jones gave it a brave stab at the Stormers ...
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
