Senior England gamers have spoken of their shock and disappointment after Felix Jones adopted Aled Walters in quitting the nationwide setup however have urged Steve Borthwick to stay with the Irishman’s world-leading blitz defence system.
England squad members had been blindsided over the weekend when it emerged Jones had resigned as defence coach eight months into the job, and held a gathering to debate the influence it could have. The information got here quickly after the extremely standard Walters left to hitch Eire, elevating awkward questions over Borthwick’s working setting and threatening to derail the progress England have made this 12 months. Jones is claimed to be significantly near Walters, who took the function of head of energy and conditioning earlier than final 12 months’s Rugby World Cup.
Jones’s all-or-nothing defence system endured teething issues early within the Six Nations however England beat Eire at Twickenham earlier than operating France shut in Lyon and pushing the All Blacks twice in the summertime. “They are going to be a loss,” mentioned the full-back George Furbank. “I liked working with Felix particularly. I believed he was an excellent coach so he’ll positively be missed however I’m certain Steve has received some guys who he’s been looking for who will step up into that function.
“We weren’t anticipating it. No one actually noticed it coming. It was a little bit of a shock. It was a little bit of an odd timing. However I’m certain the folks Steve will herald will do an excellent job. [The blitz system] helped us go from a defence that was ranked fourth or fifth on the earth to first or second. We positively noticed huge enhancements.”
With England set to welcome New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Japan to Twickenham in November, the lack of each Walters and Jones is a serious setback to Borthwick’s squad, with preparations being finalised earlier than the beginning of the home season. “It’s going to be an actual disgrace with these two guys not being round,” mentioned the fly-half Fin Smith. “Aled’s a tremendous character and drives a lot of the power in there and Felix is likely one of the hardest working coaches and the most effective rugby brains I’ve come throughout.
“They’re going to be a giant loss. It’s an actual shock. The strides the crew took with that defence, we received so many optimistic rewards from it. I might think about that [we will continue with the same defence] nevertheless it’s as much as the board and what not what occurs.”
The wing Tommy Freeman mentioned he was “gutted” to be dropping “two huge characters”, whereas the scrum-half Alex Mitchell revealed England gamers had seen match to debate the double blow over the weekend.
Borthwick is looking for to nominate a substitute for Walters earlier than the autumn and, whereas Jones is known to have a 12-month discover interval, it’s unclear if he’ll serve it given the influence his impending departure may have on the squad.
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