Kingsley Jones steps down as Canada men’s rugby coach after seven years on the job

By Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press on December 4, 2024.

Canadian men's rugby coach Kingsley Jones looks on during the team's warm-up before the first match of the Rugby World Cup 2023 Qualification Pathway, at the Swilers Rugby Club in St. John's, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

Kingsley Jones is stepping down as coach of the Canadian men’s rugby team after seven years on the job.

Rugby Canada called it a mutual parting with both parties agreeing it’s time to set the team “in a new direction.”

The former Welsh international flanker, who won 10 caps between 1996 and 1998 and captained his country once, took over the Canadian men in September 2017,

He succeeded New Zealand’s Mark Anscombe, who was fired that August after 24th-ranked Canada lost to the 17th-ranked U.S. in its first crack at qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Under Jones, the Canadians made it to that World Cup in Japan where they went winless. But Canada failed to make the 2023 World Cup, missing out on the sport’s showcase for the first time.

Canada, currently ranked 23rd in the world, is coming off losses last month to No. 20 Romania (35-27) and No. 21 Chile (44-14), with both games in Bucharest.

The Nov. 16 loss to Romania was a fifth straight defeat for the Canada men, who have won just two of their last 12 tests.