Rassie surprises by getting 'vital cog' Jones back for Boks

Rugby
  • 9 Hours Ago
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has engineered a major coup by getting former Bok assistant coach Felix Jones to return to the management team for the build up to the World Cup title defence in Australia in 2027.

Jones, who was part of the Bok management team that won back-to-back World Cups in 2019 and 2023, will return to the side from 1 March 2025.

Jones left the Boks at the end of the 2023 season, looking for new opportunities, and joined Steve Bothwick’s England management team in a short-lived stint that ended a few months ago.

The stint at England was one filled with “turmoil” as Jones found himself unable to work in the set-up, before being frozen out, yet still held to his contract by England, who eventually let him go in December last year.

But with the Boks Jones fulfilled an exceptionally important role, being based in Europe and looking after the overseas-based Springboks for both Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber during their stints.

He also was in charge of conducting research on the opposition, a role that worked exceptionally well in both World Cup campaigns.

Jones is also now reunited with fellow Irishman Jerry Flannery, who joined the Boks at the end of 2023 in a defense coaching role. The two were assistants to Erasmus when he coached Munster in 2016 and 2017, helping Erasmus take Munster to the Pro12 final.

Tony Brown keeps his position as the Bok attack coach, but Jones’ return will add some extra aspects to the Bok coaching team, which will need to come up with new ways to defend their World Cup crown from a chasing pack.

The added bonus is that Jones has worked with the England side and has intimate knowledge of them, while he has spent the past two seasons studying the other Six Nations opposition and was with Borthwick on England’s tour of New Zealand.

There was some speculation Jones may join Ireland’s national squad, or even take over at Munster following Graham Rowntree’s departure, but the Bok announcement came out of the blue with Erasmus calling him a “vital cog” for future Bok success.

Erasmus unveiled his management team yesterday, with the three new additions to the coaching and management groups being Jones – who was a member of the team’s triumphant 2019 and 2023 RWC campaigns – as well as Lance Lemmetjies, who will join the medical team as one of two physiotherapists from June, and Robyn Moore, as the team dietician from 1 April.

– Supersport.com