Springboks’ coaching consultant Felix Jones to be based in Europe

Felix Jones has been appointed as a European-based coaching consultant with the South African Rugby Union.

A statement from the South African Rugby Union explained Jones — part of the coaching ticket which guided the Springboks to World Cup glory — “will be based in Europe to improve communication and alignment to address the reality of the number of South African players based on that continent.”

Former assistant coach Jacques Nienaber was named as the new head coach with his predecessor, Rassie Erasmus, now national director of rugby.

Erasmus and Nienaber coached at Munster from 2016 until late 2017 before returning to their native South Africa.

“Jacques is highly experienced and has worked with the Springboks on three separate occasions now so knows exactly what the job is about,” said Erasmus of their new roles.

“Jacques will be responsible for the Test match preparation and day-to-day team operations but, as the director of rugby, I will be with the team for the majority of the time... I’ll still be responsible for the strategy and results.”