RUGBY: The decision to sack Eddie Jones as Australia's head coach, following a run of one win in nine matches after four-and-a-half years in charge, will be noted with interest, and maybe even a little irony, in Irish rugby.

That sole victory was their 30-14 win at the expense of a poor Irish performance at Lansdowne Road a fortnight ago, but while there has been no comment from the IRFU - good, bad or indifferent - about the position of coach Eddie O'Sullivan, who is contracted through until 2008, that win was not enough to save Jones.

His removal leaves Alan Gaffney, who came on board as assistant/backs coach only last May, in limbo, although the former Munster head coach and Leinster assistant coach was told by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) yesterday that all bar Jones on the current Wallaby coaching ticket will remain in situ until February at least.

"I'm really disappointed for Eddie," Gaffney said yesterday, while holidaying in Ireland. "He's a fantastic coach. It's a results business, of course, and they haven't been going well, but we've been playing some good rugby. We've blooded five players from this year's under-21 squad on this tour, which will be of enormous benefit to Australian rugby in years to come."

"I've really enjoyed what I've done in the last six months and would like to continue, but we'll have to wait and see what happens in February," he added. "I've learnt a hell of a lot, especially about the way things are done at international level. It's more demanding and more pressure, and Eddie had an unbelievable work ethic. He demanded a lot from the other coaches, but no one worked harder than him."

Although the Wallabies were missing 10 frontline Test players through injury, and only two of their last nine games were at home, it seems the scale of the pack's massacre by England, especially, was too much to bear for the ARU.

Their managing director, Gary Flowers, said that while the review of the year-end tour is not completed, "professional rugby is a result-based game, and one win in nine matches is far from satisfactory. The decision to search for a new coach was only reached after carefully considering the information that has been gleaned from our review and consultation with key people.

"This is a very difficult decision, but the ARU strongly believes we must give the Wallabies a fresh start with a new coach who will give us the best possible chance of future success.

"While the ARU board has decided to search for a new coach, we also recognise that Eddie Jones has made an enormous contribution to the game."

Flowers said this included a good rugby programme and work ethic and a great achievement in taking the Wallabies to the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

He said the review of Wallaby support structures will continue.

"I want to make it clear to all rugby supporters that this process will continue and it will leave no stone unturned. However, it was clear that we needed to act now on the position of head coach.

"We will now be able to move forward and get on with the job of searching for a high-calibre head coach to lead a coaching team that will get the best out of Australia's elite rugby players. This is not an easy decision, but it is in the best interests of Australian rugby."

Unlike the IRFU's five-man appointments sub-committee, which monitors the professional coaching teams and includes only two men with notable coaching or managerial experience, the Australian panel will consist of Dr Peter Davis (the ARU general manager of high performance), former Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen and another high-performance rugby personality yet to be determined.

The panel will seek input from past and present players and is expected to make a recommendation to the ARU board in February. The successful Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie is the leading candidate to end the ACT Brumbies' recent conveyor belt to the Wallabies.

Auckland Blues coach David Nucifora and former Bath coach John Connolly are also in the running.

Jones, whose mother and wife are Japanese, is expected to take up a coaching position in the Land of the Rising Sun.