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What Joe El-Abd made of the England defence under Felix Jones
New defence coach Joe El-Abd believes the success of Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United shows why England could benefit from the recent upheaval in Steve Borthwick’s backroom staff. El-Abd has taken over from Felix Jones after the Irishman who helped South Africa win the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups unexpectedly handed in his resignation in August.
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A long-term friend of Borthwick’s, former Bristol and Toulon flanker El-Abd will take charge of England’s defence while continuing his role as director of rugby at Oyonnax until the end of the season. Jones’ desire to leave after just nine months in the job, as well as Aled Walters’ equally-sudden exit as head of strength and conditioning the previous month, sent shockwaves through the camp.
But El-Abd has insisted that with Borthwick’s ongoing presence providing the foundation, England can still thrive. “Coaching stability is important and it helps,” he said. “But coaching cohesion is even more important because then if we are all on the same page, we can question each other hard. What do we do well? What do we not do well?
“I’m looking forward to creating that stability. You see it in football, you see it in rugby – having cohesive coaching teams is important. But does that mean that there’s never any changes? No. I’m going to use Alex Ferguson as an example. Alex Ferguson stayed for a long time and was pretty successful. He didn’t always have the same coaches. It’s quite rare that they lasted for more than three or four years.
“But he stayed and he knew he had the identity of Manchester United and that is the most important thing. If we can create that cohesion together as a coaching group, that is only positive to help the players get better.”
El-Abd revealed that England will persist with Jones’ ‘blitz’ defence, although he was keen not to use his predecessor’s terminology for the aggressive system that was bearing fruit on the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand.
The Rugby Football Union said Jones is contributing to England remotely while he works his 12-month notice period with negotiations over his departure taking place in the background. “I had a real good chat with Felix, we did it on a video call. He was really, really helpful,” said El-Abd, who was keen to emphasise Kevin Sinfield’s influence on the defence before Jones took over.
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“The DNA of England rugby is being tough, getting off the line and being a tough forward unit, etc. We are going to take what has been really good – and there has been lots that is really good over the last couple of years, not just in the last eight games – and we are going to reinforce that.”
El-Abd lived with Borthwick during their university days and they attended each other’s weddings as part of a friendship spanning 26 years. After the shock of Jones and Walters walking out, his arrival is seen as well timed. “In any coaching environment, you need people who are going to be loyal and committed. And in agreement,” he said.
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You shouldn’t work with friends and family. Generally spells problems.