Felix Jones’ calming influence badly missed by Munster

Of all the departures from Munster over the last few seasons, the loss of Felix Jones is perhaps the most under-appreciated.

Forced into premature retirement following a neck injury sustained while playing a Pro12 game against Glasgow at a time when many believed the full-back should have been in Ireland’s World Cup squad last October, it is Jones’s calm authority in the backfield and in the dressing room Anthony Foley feels is being sorely missed.

“Nobody planned on Felix going,” the head coach said. “He was massively important around the squad, having that solidity at the back; the chat, saying the right things, it was excellent. He came back from (missing) the World Cup and was obviously crestfallen in terms of everything that had happened to him and he’d done everything that was required to get into the World Cup squad and in a lot of people’s point of view he was unfortunate to miss out.