Five times head coaches have faced their former side

By Charlie Elliott

Whenever a player or coach goes back to a former club, there is always a sense of intrigue both with how the head coach or player reacts to facing old teammates, but also from the fans.

Over the years this has become a divisive subject amongst those in the stadium.

This will be no different on Sunday when England face Japan.

Eddie Jones will lead out the Brave Blossoms, having previously brought some impressive success to England but possibly tarnished his legacy after a tumultuous end.

Here are five times where international head coaches had to face their former teams.

Eddie Jones (ENGLAND v Australia, 2019 Rugby World Cup)

It seems appropriate to start this list off with Eddie Jones himself, with the Australian inspiring this list. Jones came up against his former side, and country of birth, while England head coach a few times.

The biggest of all of these tests was the World Cup quarter-final.

Jones and England dominated to win 40-16 and would eventually progress to the final, losing to South Africa.

His record against the Wallabies was impressive during his England tenure, only losing once in 11 tests between the two.

England fans will be hoping this isn’t replicated when he returns to Allianz Stadium (Twickenham) on Sunday.

Steve Hansen (NEW ZEALAND v Wales, 2019 Rugby World Cup)

In the same tournament that Eddie Jones faced Australia, New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen came up against a familiar opponent in the form of Wales.

Hansen was at Wales between 2002-04, having the unfortunate record of getting the Wooden Spoon at the 2003 Six Nations.

He then went straight to his native New Zealand, first as assistant and then as head coach in 2012, where he led his country to their first-ever World Cup win outside of home soil in 2015, as well as numerous Rugby Championship titles in this time

His last game for the All Blacks came against Wales, in the third-place playoff of the 2019 World Cup. The All Blacks eased to victory with a 40-17 victory and put an end to a very successful coaching career.

Warren Gatland (Ireland v WALES, 2008 Six Nations)

Things may be getting quite sour for Warren Gatland now for Wales, but there are some fond memories to look back on, no less so than when he faced Ireland, who he was formerly head coach of.

With an unremarkable stint at Ireland between 1998-2001 ending with him getting the boot, he floated around a few club teams and eventually found himself a Wales head coach in 2007.

In a long first spell between 2007- 2019, which also got him the British and Irish Lions job between 2013 -2021, he led the country to some of their best times.

The best of which came against Ireland in the 2008 Six Nations, beating Ireland 16-12 in Dublin, securing the Triple Crown and all but guaranteeing the Grand Slam, which they later did against France.

Michael Cheika (ARGENTINA v Australia, 2022 Rugby Championship)

Now of Leicester Tigers, Australian-born Michael Cheika has had a long and very interesting career in coaching.

He would find himself as Australia head coach between 2014-2019, with some good contributions, including Giteau’s Law which allowed overseas players to play for Australia.

Cheika resigned after a poor 2019 World Cup, losing to Eddie Jones’ England in the quarter-final.

While originally being an assistant at Argentina between 2020-21, he then enjoyed a spell as head coach in 2022-23.

One of his side’s best games during this time came in the 2022 Rugby Championship, with Los Pumas annihilating the Wallabies 48-17 on home soil.

This was Argentina’s biggest-ever win against their opposition and showed some great fight back following a 14-point defeat only a week before to the same team.

Wayne Pivac (WALES v Fiji, 2021 Autumn Internationals)

New-Zealand born coach Wayne Pivac was given his first chance at test rugby head coaching in 2004 when Fiji appointed him to replace Mac McCallion.

He had some success, winning the Pacific Tri-Nations in 2004, and he helped them to Rugby World Cup Sevens glory in 2007.

After leaving and staying at club level, Wales then became another country to give him a chance at test level, succeeding Warren Gatland.

Wales would win the 2021 Six Nations under Pivac and got their highest points total against England in this campaign.

Later that year, Wales hosted Fiji at the Millenium Stadium, and Pivac managed to get one over on his former employers, with a relatively close encounter ending 38-23 to Wales.

This caps off a selection of former head coaches who had to face their old side, and with most of them being successful it begs the question whether there is a chance Eddie Jones can do the impossible.