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Crusaders make shock international coaching appointment

Mark Jones in action for Wales at the 2007 World Cup. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

NZ Herald

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has gone overseas, again, to complete his coaching team.

Former Welsh wing Mark Jones has taken up a two year deal to be the Crusaders defence coach, and he will also be part of the Canterbury provincial setup.

While other New Zealand sides appoint assistants from within the system, Robertson it seems will keep thinking outside the box.

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Former Ireland No. 10 Ronan O’Gara assisted Robertson for the past two seasons before taking over as coach of French club La Rochelle.

The 40-year-old Jones coached RGC 1404 for three seasons in the Welsh premiership, was part of the Wales camp in 2012/13, and was in the Namibia coaching group at last year’s World Cup.

News of Jones’ shock Crusaders appointment came out of Wales, with the Crusaders not making an announcement.

The champions will be going for a fourth consecutive title under Robertson, who was controversially overlooked for the All Black job.

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Jones told Wales Online: “It’s a huge opportunity and the welcome I have had in New Zealand has been fantastic.

“Without being disrespectful to other rugby clubs, the Crusaders are probably regarded as the best rugby organisation in the world. So for them to feel I can add value means a lot.

“I’m a team defence coach with the Crusaders, while I’ll also be running the attack and the backs with Canterbury in the Mitre Cup at the end of the season.

“So it’s a dual role that allows me to stay out here all year round.

“I’ve spent a couple of weeks with them already and they are everything others have said they’d be, with open-minded people who are great off the pitch and smart on it,” he said.

“It’s a unique environment and it’s been a pleasure so far.”

Jones was a big wing who played 47 tests for Wales until 2009, his career cut short by knee problems.

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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