Felix Jones' vision for England's defence
This feature is from Saturday's England v Wales match day programme.
By Alex Lowe, rugby correspondent for The Times.
Fresh from winning back-to-back World Cups with South Africa, Felix Jones outlines his vision for England’s defence after joining Steve Borthwick’s management team.
When Felix Jones was playing for Munster, he started up a folk band called Hermitage Green with Barry Murphy, his Thomond Park teammate. Murphy and the band are still playing but Jones had to leave the group as he embarked on a remarkable coaching career. His job now is to bang the drum for England’s defence.
Jones is still only 36 but he is already one of the most decorated coaches in world rugby, having helped South Africa to win the World Cup in 2019 and then successfully defend their title in France last year. Landing his services was a coup for Steve Borthwick and England.
“Felix is one of the most intense people I have ever met,” the England head coach said. “And coming from me, that's saying something. I can meet him or have an hour-long conversation with him on the phone and not get a word in.
“He has so much rugby knowledge, it's unreal. And his work ethic has astounded me, really, genuinely, astounded me — and I've seen some people who work very hard.
“I don't know whether he sleeps, given the amount of material he works through. We were picking apart the contact area recently, and he was showing me things I had never heard any other coach discuss. I think his knowledge is ground-breaking. He has the players transfixed when he speaks and that is superb.”
England pushed South Africa to the brink in the World Cup semi final. Manie Libbock, South Africa’s fly half, struggled to cope with the pressure England were bringing in defence and he was replaced after just half an hour. It was a tactical shift that helped South Africa get a foothold in the game and they eventually scraped home by a single point in the Paris rain.
But Jones could see from that performance that England had the character and mindset to be an imposing defensive team. His mission now is to build on those foundations so that England find a consistency of performance that allows them to bring the heat every week.
“The perception South Africa had before that World Cup semi final was that the English side were an incredibly effective and difficult team to beat,” Jones said. “We held them in a huge amount of respect and did not take that game lightly. We treated it with the magnitude of the game that it deserved as a World Cup semi final.
“I thought it was an incredible match. I know the rain was lashing down but in terms of an arm wrestle and the tightness of the game, I think it was hugely exciting.
“The upward trajectory we’ve seen with England over the last 12 months is something I want to continue.
“What most defences are chasing is an increase in putting opposition skillsets under pressure. Attack is getting so good these days. Putting skill sets under pressure will be one of the big things.
“And whether you’re at schoolboy or international level, there’s a premium on collision-winning. That almost goes without saying. There are different ways to win collisions. It doesn’t have to be brute force. Size and power obviously plays into things but also there’s the character, toughness and motivation of people
“If we can keep finding the right guys in the Premiership who can display those traits I think that can be just as effective, if not more so, in terms of collision-winning. Ben Earl, for example, wins a tremendous amount of collisions and he would be one of the lightest No8s in the world.”
They say that still waters run deep and that is the case with Jones. Behind a quiet, self-effacing exterior is a strong character, whose powers of resilience and determination will be an inspiration to the England team.
Jones came back from a dislocated neck and then serious knee and ankle injuries over the course of a nightmare two year period to win 13 caps for Ireland. There was a time Jones feared he might not walk again and he was told at one stage that his rugby career was over.
“The highlight of my playing career was making it back,” he said. “I wasn’t the same player after my injuries but I had found a way back.”
Jones played against England in Ireland’s title-winning campaign in 2015 and for the Irish Wolfhounds against England A, lining up against Henry Slade, Elliot Daly and Maro Itoje. He was unfortunate not to play at a World Cup but has more than made up for it with his coaching achievements.
“His energy is 11 out of 10,” Jamie George, the captain, said. “The intensity that he wants us to defend at I think will get people off their seats. The physicality we can show, people can get behind us on that front.”
Jones started out as an attack coach and he will work in sync with Richard Wigglesworth, because one area of the game feeds another. Those moments of transition can be priceless.
“In the modern game there’s so much crossover now between the kicking game, attack and defence departments if you want to call them that. You can’t just operate anymore in silos or bubbles,” Jones says.
“I think that actually there's a lot of interconnectivity to make another one effective. So, I am really enjoying myself. Wiggy and I get along great so we are throwing out ideas and discussing and thrashing things through and trying to try to find little improvements every day.
“Adapting to a new culture, adapting to a new way of doing things, that brings a bit of uncomfortablity but that forces you to get better.”
Where does that drive come from? “I just enjoy rugby,” he said.
