Cornish All Blacks have handed Mal Roberts and Tony Roques the task of leading them into next season.

The duo have been appointed as joint head coaches, with Jon Fabian as skills coach and Simon Owens taking on the role of director of rugby.

Roberts and Roques take over from Jon Hill and Keith Brooking, who stood down from their positions of director of rugby and forwards coach, respectively, at the end of the season.

Roberts was first-team captain during the past campaign, while Roques held the title of player-defence coach.

All Blacks chairman Tim Fox declared: "Mal and Tony are very well liked and very well respected by everyone within the club and you can't ask for more than that, while Simon brings his experience from working with Jon over the last three or four seasons. I'm looking very positively towards next season.

"We are hoping to keep the majority of the squad together, and it should be a promising season again. We have put together a competitive budget in the current economic climate which will allow us to put out a competitive team."

The All Blacks finished third in National League One this season, leaving them 27th in the country – their highest ranking – but it will be a tough ask to repeat that position after some financial belt-tightening at the club. However, 32-year-old Roberts, who is currently coaching Cornwall's backs in their County Championship campaign, said the new coaching team were looking forward to the task facing them.

"Myself and Tony are the same sort of characters – pretty honest, straight-talking people – so hopefully the boys will react in a positive way," Roberts said. "I've been skipper all year, and I haven't played a great deal because I've been injured, but the players seemed to react quite positively towards me as an individual, so I am quite looking forward to it.

"It's quite a challenge, really. It's nice in one way to go into next season off the back of a successful campaign, but that produces a lot of expectation as well. Myself and Rocky are both realistic, and we're going to sit down and set out our two or three-year plan.

"There is obviously someone different in the chair steering the ship now, so it's probably going to take a while to adjust and get the boys playing to the way we want to play."

Fly-half Tony Yapp and winger Jason Luff have already left the All Blacks to join Taunton, while No.8 Sam Hocking is interesting Plymouth Albion, but Roberts is optimistic the majority of the squad will stay at Polson Bridge. "Hopefully, we can retain most of the boys from last season. Things are tight at the club financially, but hopefully the boys will just want to stay around for the rugby, and not necessarily for the money," he said.

"We hope to sign the majority of them up over the next couple of weeks." Roberts will combine his coaching duties with playing, but 31-year-old former Saracens and Exeter flanker Roques intends to stay on the sidelines.

"I'm sure, if it was needed, Rocky would put his boots on, but he definitely just wants to concentrate on coaching, which is quite good from my perspective," Roberts added.

"I can carry on and play, and Rocky can manage the squad on match-days.

"The appointment of Simon Owens as director of rugby will also help myself and Rocky. There is that buffer for us between the on-field stuff and the off-field stuff, which I think is pretty important," said the new coach.