England: Shock contender on Steve Borthwick’s three-man shortlist to replace ‘unhappy’ Felix Jones

Stade Francais’ Paul Gustard, Norman Laker of the Stormers and Oyonnax’s Joe El-Abd have emerged as the favourites to replace Felix Jones as England defence coach, according to media reports.

Jones was part of South Africa’s coaching staff when they won back-to-back Rugby World Cups in 2019 and 2023.

He joined England’s coaching team as defence coach at the start of this year but resigned from his position after just seven months with sources close to the former Ireland international claiming that was due to him being “unhappy with the unstable working environment”.

Second member of England’s backroom staff to leave

News of Jones‘ exit came shortly after head of strength and conditioning Aled Walters also departed his role in England‘s men’s squad to sign a deal with the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Although Jones has a 12-month notice period, the announcement of his successor is set to be revealed imminently.

The BBC reports that England head coach Steve Borthwick has moved quickly to find a replacement for Jones with former Red Rose assistant coach Gustard, Stormers defence coach Laker and El-Abd, who is Oyonnax’s head coach, part of a three-man shortlist.

England rocked by second coaching exit in space of a month – report

Despite being Borthwick’s former flat mate, El-Abd is a surprising contender as Oyonnax were relegated from the Top 14 last season after finishing at the bottom of the table with a points difference of minus 251 points.

England assistant coach under Eddie Jones

Gustard previously worked as England’s defence coach under Eddie Jones from 2016 to 2018 before leaving that job abruptly to join Premiership outfit Harlequins where he worked as head of rugby until 2021.

After that, the 48-year-old had a brief stint with United Rugby Championship (URC) outfit Benetton as an assistant coach before he became Stade Francais’ defence coach in 2022.

Meanwhile, the final candidate, Norman Laker, is the Stormers’ current defence coach and was part of the Cape Town-based franchise’s coaching staff when they were crowned inaugural URC champions in 2022 and when they lost the 2023 final against Munster.

According to the BBC, all three candidates are believed to have spoken to Borthwick in recent few weeks and an announcement is expected by the end of September.

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