Felix is back because the Bok grass is greener

If you want evidence that there are a lot of air-headed people in the world, you just have to look at social media. Never was this more apparent than when it was announced that Felix Jones was going to be rejoining the Springbok management team.

Jones left the Bok set-up after the 2023 Rugby World Cup win to move back to the northern hemisphere, where he took up a role in Steve Borthwick’s England coaching team. Initially he was approached to coach the attack, which he had done towards the end of his Bok tenure, but he ended up taking up the defence coach position. Something he did rather well.

With Jones in the mix and applying a blitz defence system similar to the one Jacques Nienaber, who is now with Leinster, introduced to the Boks, England made a pronounced improvement. They were on an upward trend when Jones announced after the England tour to New Zealand last July that he didn’t want to be involved anymore and he was put on what was effectively gardening leave by Borthwick. Meaning that while he was relieved of his position within the England management, he was made to continue making a contribution from home.

JONES IMPROVED ENGLAND

The fact of the matter though is that England did go forward when Jones was directly involved, and they went backwards in the autumn internationals, when defence was a clear weakness in the England game.

All of which made some of the comments made on social media and even in some sections of the overseas mainstream media when it was announced Jones was returning back to the Bok management he had helped in two successful World Cup attempts seem spectacularly stupid.

“He was always going to go back”; “It was always Rassie’s plan”; “It is just another example of Rassie’s planning and master-strategy”; “This is espionage of the highest order”; “It was an indicator of how far Rassie will go to get his team an advantage”…blah blah blah.

What? Erasmus was the first to admit at a press briefing in Cape Town on Wednesday that the insights Jones will bring back from being part of the England camp and from plotting against France, Ireland and the other teams in the Six Nations from close hand would be invaluable to the Boks.

But sending Jones to England to make them a better team, which he did, makes absolutely no sense at all. Unless Erasmus is concerned that his own team will get too far ahead and he wants the other teams to uplift themselves so there’s better competition going forward. If you will excuse the sarcasm.

There’s another point that Erasmus made at the presser at SARU House in the Cape Town suburb of Plattekloof that also obviously slipped past the knee-jerk brigade sending out their tweets and Facebook posts: Jones has a family that would naturally be inconvenienced by all the moving about.

BRINGING FAMILY TO SA

It was because his family wanted to stay in Ireland that Jones left the Boks after his successful and enjoyable years being part of a World Cup-winning unit. Now, according to Erasmus, Jones’ family is relocating with him to South Africa, with Jones clearly having discovered when involved with England that the grass is not greener on the other side. It is greener with the Boks.

Once available for a return, Erasmus, knowing Jones’ value, had to find a way to accommodate him, and given that Jones has worked on so many roles in his coaching career, that step was easy.

“We didn’t want to lose Felix in the first place, but his family was based in Ireland,” Erasmus said. “I’m not sure why things didn’t work out for him over in England, but we are happy to have him back. We don’t have egos in the team, and we believe in sharing responsibilities as coaches, so he will be a valuable asset to the coaching team. He will oversee player roadmaps, handle pre- and post-training extras, and contribute to tactical analysis.

“He can assist Mzwandile Stick with off-the-ball work, which obviously he was doing with us before, and all the other coaches with general tactics and detail in their respective departments.

He’ll also play a big role in the administrative side of things which will make the lives of the other coaches easier so he has a lot on his plate.”

REMIT GOES BEYOND HIS BOK ROLE

Jones wasn’t at the presser on Wednesday as he was already on the beat, helping the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban together with defence coach Jerry Flannery. Apart from Flannery and Stick, the other members of the Bok management group include forwards coach Deon Davids, attack coach Tony Brown, double Bok World Cup winner Duane Vermeulen and the former referee Jaco Peyper, who provides invaluable advice around law interpretations and ways to adapt to them.

“There’s little boxes within the coaching matrix,” said Erasmus. “Daan’s role is scrums, Jerry covers defence from scrums, and Felix will analyse opposition teams. Tony does general play attack and starter moves, while Duane supports lineout mauling and breakdown work. Deon handles lineouts himself. Duane dovetails with overseeing the breakdown defence and attack, while Daan helps with coaching on stopping mauls and analysing the opposition.

“One of the coaches always takes the other team, for example, when we’re playing Australia and he ‘coaches’ Australia (so we can properly prepare to play against them).”

SA Rugby chief executive Rian Oberholzer confirmed that Jones’ remit will go beyond just the senior national team.

“Felix will also work with the Junior Springboks and Springbok Women, ensuring standardisation across our national teams,” said Oberholzer.

“This arrangement will certainly benefit all our national teams, and we are excited to see what he brings to the table.”

England’s loss is clearly South Africa’s gain, but it was not a case of SA planting Jones in England so he could spy on the opposition. It appears more a case of Jones, having been part of a highly efficient professional environment not being happy with less than that.

HAPPY TO BE BACK

Jones meanwhile said via a SARU statement that he was delighted to be back with the team he enjoyed so many good times with between 2018 and 2023.

“South African rugby holds a special place in my heart and having the opportunity to be involved again with this world-class team that is working towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup is something I’m very appreciative of,” he said.

“I’m eager to contribute to the culture and continued success of the Boks… Nearly all of them (the coaching team) I’ve worked with closely before, including Jerry going back to Munster when I first started working with Rassie and Jacques (Nienaber).”