Felix Jones' England contract would allow Munster switch

The Irishman’s England contract prohibits him from joining a fellow Tier One nation before next August but does not stop him joining a club.

England Defence Coach Felix Jones during a training session at the LNER Community Stadium, York. Picture date: Friday March 1, 2024.

Felix Jones could be available to an approach from Munster to become their next head coach, the Irish Examiner understands.

The former Munster and Ireland full-back, whose coaching trajectory took him from the southern province to a double World Cup-winning spell with Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber’s South Africa, is currently serving out a one-year notice after resigning from his post as an assistant in the England coaching set-up.

Jones, 37, is second favourite with bookmakers behind current attack coach Mike Prendergast to succeed Graham Rowntree as Munster’s 12th head coach of the professional era and it has been assumed a return to his former club would require a hefty compensation fee to release him from his RFU contract before the end of his notice period next August.

The Irish Examiner has learned, however, that the Irishman’s contract prohibits him from joining a fellow Tier One nation within that period but does not stop him joining a club. Munster are understood to have not made an approach to the RFU for Jones but there may be fewer barriers to doing so than was initially imagined.

Jones has been working remotely for Steve Borthwick’s backroom staff with the English head coach hiring Joe El-Abd as his new defence coach. Earlier this month England players and Borthwick’s number two Richard Wigglesworth admitted they had had no contact with Jones during the current international window, even as they prepared to face their ex-assistant coach’s former employers South Africa.

Munster, meanwhile, have resumed training under interim head coach Ian Costello ahead of their return to URC action against the Lions at Thomond Park on November 30. It will be their first competitive fixture since Rowntree left Munster by mutual consent on October 29 just weeks into his third season at the helm. Costello, Munster’s head of rugby operations, took interim charge for the November 2 game against the All Blacks XV but immediately ruled himself out of the running to become the next permanent head coach.