- El-Abd has succeeded the outgoing Felix Jones as England’s defence coach
- He lived with head coach Steve Borthwick as a student at Bath University
- El-Abd believes their 26-year friendship can help provide England with stability
England’s new defence coach Joe El-Abd believes his long-standing friendship with Steve Borthwick can help re-build stability in the national team.
El-Abd lived with Borthwick as a student at Bath University and has joined England’s coaching staff after Felix Jones quit during the summer.
He met the players at this week’s training camp at Twickenham and is combining the role with his job as director of rugby at Oyonnax in ProD2.
England are also looking for a successor for strength and conditioning coach Aled Walters, who has joined rivals Ireland. ‘I think coaching stability is important,’ said El-Abd.
‘I think that helps. I think the coaching cohesion is even more important, you know, because then if we’re all on the same page, we can question each other hard.
England’s new defence coach Joe El-Abd is aiming to help restore stability in the national team
El-Abd lived with Steve Borthwick, left, as a student and has now joined his England set-up
El-Abd is succeeds Felix Jones, pictured, who is serving his notice period before joining Ireland
El-Abd is combining his England duties with his job as director of rugby at Oyonnax in ProD2
‘I’m now looking forward to creating that stability going forward. Yes, yes, in any sport, you see it in football, you see it in rugby, and having a cohesive coaching teams are important, does that mean that there’s never any changes? No.
‘Alex Ferguson stayed for a long time, 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 I think that’s the most important.
‘I have known Steve now for 26 years. We shared a flat for a year. We have been rivals – Bath captain, Bristol captain. The relationship is strong, which I think is important, but that relationship allows us to be really open and honest.’
Jones is still under contract but has been working remotely from Ireland as he serves his notice. The working environment was described as ‘unstable’ but full-back George Furbank said the transition has been smooth.
‘I spoke to both Felix and Aled,’ said Furbank. It was a bit of a shock to see them go, it’s not something we were expecting, but obviously now Steve’s bought in the coaches he wants to bring in. No coach is coming in to rip up the playbook. A lot of that meeting was about looking forward and not letting it affect the squad.’
