Bradford have appointed former player James Lowes as their new head coach.

Lowes, 44, will leave the same role at Leeds Carnegie rugby union team to succeed Francis Cummins, who was sacked just over a week ago by the relegation-threatened Super League club.

The former Bradford and Great Britain hooker, who was in the Bulls team who were crowned Super League champions in 1997 and 2001 and did the double in 2003 making a total of 205 appearances for the club, was unveiled at a press conference at the Provident Stadium yesterday.

Bulls chairman Marc Green said: “We are absolutely delighted to have someone of James’ calibre in place as our new head coach.

“As a board of directors, we recognise his talents, what he has achieved in the game, the names he has worked under and alongside in previous roles and also what he achieved last season with Leeds Carnegie.

“Regardless of what division we play in next year, we believe James is the right man to drive this club forward and into a new era.

“We have been working extremely hard to ensure we have the right man for the job and are confident James can achieve great things here, both in the short term and in the long term.”