- England players shared their reactions following Felix Jones’ shock departure
- Jones’ England exit follows that of strength and conditioning chief Aled Walters
England’s players have admitted they’ve been left shocked by Felix Jones’ departure but backed the leadership of Steve Borthwick after a hastily arranged team meeting.
Defence coach Jones’ decision to quit the national set-up hasn’t officially been confirmed by the RFU, but his loss follows the decision of strength and conditioning chief Aled Walters to also move on. It has robbed head coach Borthwick of two of his most trusted lieutenants ahead of the autumn and at a time when the national side has shown signs of on-field progression.
Northampton’s England scrum-half Alex Mitchell confirmed on Tuesday that England’s leading players had discussed the impact of losing Walters and Jones, but that they were united in the team’s direction of travel under Borthwick ahead of the new season.
‘It was really surprising. I definitely, definitely didn’t see it coming,’ said Northampton and England fly-half Fin Smith after Jones’ shock leaving followed that of Walters.
‘There’s no two ways about it, they’re going to be big losses.
Stars shared their reactions after Felix Jones became the latest coach to leave the England set-up
Fin Smith called the 37-year-old’s departure after less than a year a ‘shock and a shame’
‘It’s a real shock and bit of a shame. Felix is one of the hardest working coaches and one of the best rugby brains I’ve come across.’
Smith’s Northampton and England colleague George Furbank added: ‘We weren’t expecting it. Nobody really saw it coming. It was a bit of a shock. It was a bit of an odd timing.
‘I loved working with Felix especially. I thought he was a very good coach so he’ll definitely be missed, but I’m sure Steve has got some guys who will step up into that role.’
Jones only joined the England set-up after last year’s World Cup after helping South Africa to win the last two global tournaments. But his tenure under Borthwick has only lasted seven months despite him having success in implementing a new blitz defence system.
England’s 2003 World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward said in his MailSport column Jones had ‘let Borthwick and English rugby down. Big time.’
Borthwick’s search for a new defence coach and fitness team is already underway.
On Tuesday Furbank and Smith both admitted they would be keen for England to maintain Jones’ blitz system whoever takes on his role.
‘It helped us (England) go from a defence that was ranked fourth or fifth in the world to first or second and we definitely saw massive improvements,’ Furbank said. ‘It’s a defence that took a while to understand but I think once you do, you feel like such a dominant side.’
Jones’ exit comes just weeks after Aled Walters (right) left his role with England to join Ireland
Despite the departures England’s leading stars affirmed their support for Steve Borthwick
Northampton, last season’s Gallagher Premiership champions, have three promising young English coaches in director of rugby Phil Dowson, attack chief Sam Vesty and Lee Radford who is in charge of the Saints’ defence.
‘All of our coaching group are under contract,’ said outgoing Northampton chief executive Mark Darbon. ‘We are so proud of what they have done, last year in particular.
‘We very recently extended the contracts of Phil, Sam, Lee and the rest of the coaching group so I think we are in a good place.
‘We are optimistic they will continue to lead us to lots of success.’
