The biggest and most disruptive of those departures appeared to be Felix Jones, who has just been re-signed by world champions South Africa after completing his notice period with England.
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Read MoreThe 37-year-old Irishman worked as an assistant coach for the Springboks at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, both of which they won, so his arrival at Pennyhill Park was seen as a major coup for Borthwick before his second Six Nations campaign in charge. South African players waxed lyrical about the outgoing Jones, calling him “unbelievable”, “a privilege to work with” and “an amazing coach and person”. Kwagga Smith said that “all of us as Springboks are better players because of him”.
As soon as he was free of his England deal, South Africa wasted no time in re-hiring him as one of their six assistant coaches, three of whom Jones worked with before he left after the 2023 World Cup.
“Felix worked very closely with most of our coaches in the past, and I have no doubt he’ll work equally closely with Jerry [Flannery] and Tony [Brown], who joined us last season.
That last line is a thinly veiled jibe that deftly humiliates English rugby. Jones wasn’t even in camp the week England played South Africa last autumn, and Borthwick evaded questions about his level of gameplan input. Now the 37-year-old has turned triple agent and will be back in Cape Town, his trusty laptop in hand, telling the Boks everything they need to know about Borthwick’s England. Not that the double world champions need it of course, but they are unrelenting in their thirst for knowledge and success.
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Read More“I really enjoyed working with him, got on great with him and I wish him well, everyone in the squad would and I look forward to coming up against him again.”
Hiring Jones looked like a possible masterstroke until he quit. Not long after, fitness coach Tom Tombleson left after 10 years working with England. Strength and conditioning expert Aled Walters, another poach from South Africa, quit that same summer. Sinfield missed several weeks in the autumn because of his book tour. Joe El-Abd, Jones’s replacement as defence coach and Borthwick’s old flatmate, is on a job-share with second-tier French side Oyonnax. Phil Morrow is to replace Walters as head of strength and conditioning – but Premiership clubs blocked a request for him to do it alongside his performance role at Saracens, and that move will not take place until this coming summer. Borthwick has few credible answers for any questions about this growing trend.
Erasmus adds: “As a team we are well aware that we need to keep improving and growing if we want to remain one of the best teams in the world and to give ourselves the best possible chance to defend our World Cup title in Australia in 2027, and Felix, like all the other coaching and support staff, will play a key role in guiding us to do so.”
Whatever England are doing, it is not improving and growing. In the case of the coaching team, the best guys are walking away and it is an increasing struggle to replace them.
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