‘Chasing the Sun’, a stirring documentary of the tournament from Supersport, depicts Jones in his natural habitat. Scan highlights of South Africa’s 2019 and you will see Erasmus turning to high-five Jones after a runaway try against Canada, created by an Elton Jantjies cross-kick from the restart. I’d say he played a good part in our campaign and winning it.” “When I think back, it wasn’t often that you saw him when he was away from the field that he wasn’t in front of a laptop doing additional analysis or pulling boys aside here or there saying ‘maybe we could do this’ or ‘maybe we could tweak this’. When it was time to stand in between the poles for conditioning, he would make his exit… but the rest of the time he’d be running with the boys. He actively sought to engage and that gave him an edge with that buy-in from the guys. “He wasn’t coming from a pedestal position where he was dictating. “With him being recently on the field it meant that he would be involved in sessions with his boots on,” Louw adds. Jones also impressed with his versatility. Jones replaced attack coach Swys de Bruin yet was officially assigned to the role of ‘defence consultant’, with Erasmus saying that his players “were interested in having more analysis of defensive patterns and structures”.Ĭoaching requires soft social skills and Louw recalls a few amusing attempts to break the ice with Irish-Afrikaans. That group, one gathers from various testimonies, covered all bases with their complementary personalities. Two years later, having joined Munster’s backroom staff under Rassie Erasmus, he was seconded to Ireland’s summer tour party by Joe Schmidt.Įrasmus whisked him into the Springboks fold for the World Cup, where he would join two more ex-Munster employees in Jacques Nienaber and Aled Walters. Jones spent most of his playing career in Munster’s back three and won 13 Test caps before retiring in 2015 due to a neck injury. Modest and well-regarded are recurring descriptions of a 36-year-old who has already garnered rich experience. At the end of the day, it’s a physical game we play and you try to shake up the other side a bit, whether that’s your opposite number or another individual within their team.” “He was a specialist within our group and a large part of his role was analysing the opposition and looking for weaknesses to exploit – kinks in individuals’ games, what makes them tick and how you rock the boat. “With these big games on big stages, there is a lot of pressure and anxiety and nerves and you’re pitting your team’s strategy against that of the team you’re up against. “Felix is extremely astute when it comes to analysing a game, especially individuals, and trying to put moments into perspective,” remembers former Springboks back-rower Francois Louw, part of that champion squad four years ago. His role in the 2019 World Cup triumph carried an air of espionage, too. At a press conference in Toulon last week, he politely declined to offer his opinion on who would be South Africa’s toughest pool-stage opponents. Interviews with him are hard to find and rare media appearances actively seek to avoid controversy or conflict. South Africa’s fascinating encounter with Ireland on Saturday could be billed as the best defence on the planet against the best attack, and Felix Jones will have pondered all sorts of subtle details during the lead-up.Ī certain mystique surrounds Jones, and not just because he was the one flashing the traffic lights down to the Stade de Marseille pitch during the Springboks’ 18-3 win over Scotland. What is more, at the end of this World Cup, he will join the England set-up of Steve Borthwick. He is the Dubliner who made his name with Munster and the Irishman attempting to plot a path past his compatriots while ensconced with the Springboks.
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