England players react to 'shock' Felix Jones, Aled Walters exits

Three England players have expressed their shock and disappointment at the departure of influential assistant coaches Felix Jones and Aled Walters. Steve Borthwick’s preparations for the autumn have been hit by the loss of two highly-rated members of his management team who helped turn South Africa into 2019 and 2023 World Cup winners.

Jones was the architect of England’s destructive blitz defensive system in 2024 but news of his resignation emerged over the weekend, a fortnight after head of strength and conditioning Walters had defected to Andy Farrell’s Ireland.

Uncertainty surrounds the timing of Jones’ exit due to a 12-month notice period in his contract, but he is not expected to be in place for New Zealand’s visit to Twickenham on November 2. Borthwick must now replace two sought-after coaches at a time when England were making progress on the pitch, while his playing squad are also coming to terms with the news.

“We weren’t expecting it. Nobody really saw it coming. It was a bit of a shock. It was bit of an odd timing,” said Northampton full-back George Furbank. “They will be a loss. I loved working with Felix especially. He was a very good coach so he will definitely be missed, but I’m sure the people Steve will bring in will do a good job.”

Tommy Freeman echoed the opinion of Northampton teammate Furbank, admitting he was “gutted” by the development, while a third Saint, Fin Smith, said the upheaval has been sudden and unexpected. “Really surprising. Definitely, definitely didn’t see it coming. It’s going to be a real shame with those two guys not being around,” Smith said.

“Aled is an amazing character and drives so much of the energy in there and Felix is one of the hardest-working coaches and one of the best rugby brains I have come across. There is no two ways about it, they are going to be a big loss. It’s a real shock.”

Jones and Walters leaving so early in their England contracts – they have been involved for eight and 19 Tests respectively – places a spotlight over Borthwick’s regime. Apart from the challenge of finding suitable alternatives at short notice, Borthwick must also decide whether to continue with the high-risk, high-reward approach to defending that was Jones’ calling card or implement a new system.

It got off to a shaky start in the Six Nations but it began to cause opponents problems, including against the All Blacks during the summer tour. Furbank believes it should be retained even if its mastermind has moved on. “It helped us go from a defence that was ranked fourth or fifth in the world to first or second. We definitely saw massive improvement,” he said.

“It can become an all-or-nothing thing but the majority of the time if you get that right and you train it, it becomes a very difficult defence to attack against. We have experienced that here at Saints.

"When you face those blitz defences, it’s hard to be able to move the ball and execute your game plan. It’s a defence that took a while to understand, but once you do you feel like such a dominant side.”