England will not be tied to Felix Jones’s blitz defence, with his successor Joe El-Abd insisting that he will be his own man when overseeing the evolution of the side’s defensive strategy ahead of the autumn internationals.

El-Abd said the squad would not be using the term “blitz” when talking about their defensive-line speed and that the coaching team would take “what is working, and we will see where we can improve it”.

The Oyonnax director of rugby has taken his first session with the England squad during a three-day camp, having been appointed as Jones’s successor after he announced his shock resignation in August after just eight months in the role – and just days after head of strength and conditioning Aled Walter also quit.

Significantly it seems he has been given the licence to take the defence in a new direction from the high-risk, high-reward strategy Jones had attempted to introduce from his time working with South Africa during two World Cup-winning campaigns.

“If you go into a business, if you go into anything and you start from scratch you are losing so much cohesion from the past,” said El-Abd. “So what we are doing now is to say, ‘This is working guys, you are excellent in this area’ - and they have been excellent in certain areas - ‘however, where is the next period of growth?’

“We did it after the World Cup and now we need to keep going forward. Evolving is potentially a good word. It is not going to happen overnight, but we know where we want to go and we will work slowly towards that.

“We’re a team that loves getting off the line, and getting off the line is ‘blitz’. You call it whatever you want to. It’s not the terminology we use, but we want to put the ‘adversaire’, we want to put the opposition under pressure. That’s not going to change.

Talking tough

“So the DNA of England rugby is being tough, getting off the line, being a tough forward unit. We’re going to take what’s been really good, and there’s been lots really good, as I said, over the last couple of years, not just in the last eight games over the last couple of years, and we’re going to reinforce that and see what we can add to go even further.

“We know that from now until the World Cup, these games that are coming up, we can’t stand still. So we’re going to take what’s been really good, and we’re going to see where we can go.

“We are where we are now. Do we want to be there in a couple of years’ time? Absolutely not, because we want to progress forward. That’s going to be where we’re going to try and impact the players in that area.”

A key role for El-Abd will also bring stability to a coaching team that has been undermined by change and uncertainty, after losing two key lieutenants. Steve Borthwick made a point of declaring his long-standing friendship with his new defence coach at a meeting with the squad on Monday.

“In any coaching environment, you need people who are going to be loyal and committed,” added El-Abd. “And in agreement. If we have a great coaching relationship that can only help the players get better. And that’s what we’re going to go and try to create.

“It seems to me as a director of rugby at the moment, that’s the base of anything that you want to create as a head coach or director of rugby, or head coach of England which is obviously the biggest job he has. You have also got to know that it is to create the desire to get better and we know that’s Steve in a nutshell.”

Analysis

By Charlie Morgan

How do you say “blitz” in French? Joe El-Abd politely declined to name the system he will implement as England defence coach but he was enthusiastic in his first meeting with the English press, scattering many of his answers with French. George Furbank earlier joked about the number of “biens” that had crept into training.

More than once, El-Abd referred to the defensive solidity at the 2023 World Cup, when that aspect of the game was overseen by Kevin Sinfield. This felt like a bid to distance this new start with the brief stay of Jones, who is working his notice in a remote capacity with a specific focus on analysis. El-Abd and Jones have interacted with a handover Zoom call.

What is obvious is that players relished the more aggressive mindset fostered by Jones. For Furbank, who has started five Tests this year at full-back, there were intriguing tweaks. The distance he travelled to fill in outside wings who had shot out of the defensive line, like Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, was a feature of Jones’s coaching.

“We came on leaps and bounds with that aggressive blitz defence so we’re just going to look to keep improving that,” said Furbank, happier to use the B-word to describe how England have defended in 2024 so far.

“There’s a bit more coverage, you’re probably making a few more front-line tackles. It’s mainly positional stuff; you can’t be afraid of letting them stick the ball in behind you, you’ve got to be happy to come up into the line and make those front-line tackles. They’re high-speed collisions, so you’ve got to be red-hot on where you’re hitting bodies.”

If Exeter Chiefs is the Premiership club that sits highest on the blitzometer, with Omar Mouneimne imploring players to swarm and stifle the attack, Furbank’s Northampton are more concerned with connections as one defensive line.

Dingwall key with Slade doubtful

Interestingly, though, when El-Abd was invited to name-check individuals, it was another Saint that may have received an autumn selection boost.

He said: “The 13 is really important in any defensive system. In the last few games Henry Slade has been really important in that area. Fraser Dingwall will be really important in that area.

“The back row is important in that system; how they get off the line, how they tackle, how they slow the ball down, how disciplined they are. We will be working with them to see how far we can take them. I know how well they are working in the clubs.”

Without reading too much into a throwaway comment, this would suggest that Dingwall could be in the frame to step up at centre alongside Ollie Lawrence should Slade fail to recover sufficiently from shoulder surgery. That would seem sensible, while Alex Lozowski has forced his way back into the reckoning.

Dingwall, who wore the No 12 for the first two matches of the 2024 Six Nations, has the poise to step up and distribute at first-receiver and is respected for sharp decision-making on the other side of the ball.

Should El-Abd retain some blitz-like facets, England’s 13 will almost certainly still have licence to track passes and fly up in a bid to make tackles behind the gain-line.

As ever, the back-row options are plentiful. Besides hybrids such as Ollie Chessum, and Nick Isiekwe, Steve Borthwick assembled Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Earl, Greg Fisilau, Tom Pearson, Ethan Roots, Sam Underhill and Tom Willis for this camp. The Curry twins were listed as unavailable with Alex Dombrandt in a rehabilitation group.

Given an opportunity for England, those players will be asked to be confrontational and crafty around the breakdown. The allusion to discipline spoke volumes. Low penalty counts are valuable at Test level.

Ahead of the autumn schedule, El-Abd has the raw materials – and the excitement – to build an effective defence, whatever it is called.