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Rassie Erasmus explains Felix Jones' 'different' Springboks role
By Liam Heagney
Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus has explained the new role given to Felix Jones following last week’s confirmation that he has rejoined the South African set-up after an ill-fated spell with England. Irishman Jones originally linked up with Erasmus ahead of Rugby World Cup 2019 as a defence consultant, going on to help them to also win the 2023 title four years later.
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It was confirmed in March 2023 that he would join Steve Borthwick’s England for the 2024 Guinness Six Nations but he revealed last August that he wanted to quit after just eight matches as defence coach. Having been told to work separate to the squad ahead of the Autumn Nations Series, a 22-word statement on December 13 officially ended his time with the English.
Eleven weeks later, the 37-year-old was named as a new assistant coach with the Springboks last Thursday and he has already got to work on the ground in South Africa, joining Jerry Flannery on a visit this Wednesday to the Sharks.
Jones was listed as an ‘assistant coach’ at last week’s announcement, with no specific duty attached, but Erasmus has now told a media briefing that his latest recruit will fit back into the mix in a different role to what he did before. “We didn’t want to lose Felix in the first place, but his family was based in Ireland,” said Erasmus.
“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.
Felix Jones will rejoin the #Springboks management as Rassie Erasmus confirmed his support team on Thursday – more here: https://t.co/gHvHKZHmht ?#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/CNJ5O8I7Jk
— Springboks (@Springboks) February 27, 2025
“Felix will be in charge of the player roadmaps and gathering all that information for us, as well as running the extras before and after training, so we plan to use him in all the different departments within our coaching matrix.
“He can assist Mzwandile Stick with the off-the-ball work, and all the other coaches with general tactics and detail in their respective departments, while he will also play a big role in the administrative side of things, so he has a lot on his plate.”
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Jones’ work won’t be limited to just the Springboks, added SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer. “Felix will also work with the Junior Springboks and Springbok women so that we can ensure a standardisation in the way things operate at the Springboks and our other national teams, which means he will also work very closely with our high-performance department headed up by Dave Wessels.
“This arrangement will certainly benefit all our national teams, and we are excited to see what he brings to the table once again at all of those levels.”
Delighted to be back working in South Africa, Jones said: “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.
“I am eager to contribute to the culture and continued success of the Boks, and I’d like to thank Rassie and the entire SA Rugby leadership for their trust in me.
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“I also look forward to reuniting with our coaching team – nearly all of whom I have worked very closely, with including Jerry going back to Munster when I first started working with Rassie and Jacques (Nienaber, former Springbok head coach).
“Having coached against Tony (Brown) and having followed his work over many years, I now look forward to collaborating with him as well. The team evolved significantly from 2019 to 2023, and it has already began evolving again, and I aim to help this team grow even further.
“My family and I are also looking forward to settling into South Africa soon before entering what is sure to be a challenging season on the field.”
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Seems a bit of a waste of his talents. I assumed he'd wanted to continue his career as a defence coach or take on a head coach role.
Maybe he just wants a third RWC on his cv and knows where to get it. Or maybe he just needs a job. Or maybe by broadening his experience he'll be able to leapfrog the herd to get a head coach role. Or maybe he just wanted to get up your nose.
“Felix will be in charge of… running the extras before and after training”
does this mean running team briefings on the morning before and evening after training? or does it just mean linking up with players before and after camps to discuss progress (which presumably he will be doing anyway in his capacity as head of player “roadmaps”)?
“He can assist Mzwandile Stick with the off-the-ball work”
I’ve always wondered what Stick did. If they have a specialist coach to deal with off-the-ball-work that’s really fascinating.
“Felix will also work with the Junior Springboks and Springbok women”
This seems very positive. I don’t follow women’s rugby but I gather that ppl woker than me see the lack of development of the women’s team as something of an embarrassment for the SARU. More pertinently the failures of the Junior Springboks risk having a really long term detrimental impact on the SA senior side.