FORMER Bath boss Mike Ford has been appointed backs coach at French side Toulon.

Ford left his role at the Recreation Ground at the end of last season after a disappointing ninth-place finish in the Aviva Premiership.

The 50-year-old, who has also served on the coaching staff for England, will work alongside head coach Diego Dominguez at the three-time European champions.

"Toulon is the greatest club in Europe, it is an honour for me," Ford is quoted as saying on the Top 14 club's official Facebook page.

"There are already some good things in place and I'm going to try to improve things even little by little so that we become a machine."

Toulon have won three of their opening six games in Top 14 and Ford, who guided Bath to the Premiership final in 2015, hopes to have an immediate impact.

He added: "I am here to help, maybe tweak the way they execute the plays and help to make Toulon play a more attacking brand of rugby."