Relegated London Welsh suffered another blow today when Lyn Jones left the club.
The head coach guided the team into the Aviva Premiership for the first time in their history last summer but despite some battling performances they only managed one season in the top flight.
Jones has now asked to be released from the third and final year of his contract to enable him to return to Wales to be nearer his family. He said: “It’s been an unbelievable journey with London Welsh but sadly, and I do sincerely mean sadly, it now personally draws to a close. Just when I thought, as a coach, I’d experienced all what the game can offer, London Welsh happened.
“The last two years have proved both exhilarating and challenging but my return to Wales has to happen and I leave with hope that I have helped players improve.”
Chairman Bleddyn Phillips paid tribute to Jones and said: “We are very sad to lose Lyn but after several meetings with him over the past week or so it is abundantly clear that he wishes to move back to Wales for personal reasons and to be closer to his family.
“We are very fortunate to have had someone of Lyn’s calibre as our head coach and owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.
“I have got to know Lyn very well and we will miss his intuitive feel for the game. We are now well under way in the process of choosing a successor.”
