Joe el-abd: england's new defence coach sheds light on his 15-year journey in france - ruck

ENGLAND’S NEW DEFENCE COACH JOE EL-ABD ARRIVED AT THE ALLIANZ STADIUM ON MONDAY, FOR HIS FIRST EXPERIENCE OF COACHING WITH A NATIONAL TEAM SET-UP. THE FORMER BATH AND BRISTOL FLANKER IS THE

LATEST ADDITION TO STEVE BORTHWICK’S ENGLAND COACHING STAFF, WITH EL-ABD FILLING THE VACANCY LEFT BY FELIX JONES AT THE END OF THE SUMMER. However, El-Abd is more than just new face in the

England set-up, as the defence coach shares a 26-year friendship with England head coach Steve Borthwick. From sharing a flat together in their university days, to running out together in

the blue, black and white of Bath, El-Abd expressed how Borthwick did not have to ‘sell the job’, in joining him within the England coaching staff. El-Abd spoke to the media in his first

England press conference since taking up the role, and discussed how within the top coaching set-ups, you need a group of loyal coaches supporting the head coach. “I don’t think he needed to

sell it, in the sense that this is the best defensive job you can have. What he did sell was the vision he had with this team, the expectations he has of the players and the talent we have

at our disposal. He didn’t need to sell it, because I have seen it, I have been watching it. “I followed the team during the World Cup, where I thought we were outstanding, In the Summer

series we were disappointed not to get a victory (over New Zealand) but you could see signs we were moving in the right direction. To be part of that didn’t need a big sell from Steve. I’m

just delighted he has shown the confidence for me to step into the role.” “Anyone who knows Steve, he’s a great guy. Loyal, honest, wants to get better all the time. I think that idea of

getting better all the time is the area where in my coaching career, in my playing career, in his playing career, you associate that with those who are trying to reach the highest level. He

started coaching at a similar time to me, I ended up being a head coach, Director of Rugby, slightly earlier. Bouncing ideas off, seeing how high we can go, individually and that questioning

mindset, has probably led to that longevity of the relationship.” A passionate football fan, and brother to ex-professional footballer Adam El-Abd, it was only fitting for the 44-year-old

to use legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to hammer home his point. “I’m just going to use Alex Ferguson as an example. Alex Ferguson stayed for a long time, pretty

successful. He didn’t always have the same coaches. It’s quite rare that they lasted for more than three or four years. But he stayed, and he knew he had the identity of Manchester United,

and I think that’s the most important. So if we can create that cohesion together as a coaching group, I think that’s only positive to help the players get better, and that’s our job.”

El-Abd’s move into the England coaching set-up is not the most logistically simple situation, as the former back row has to see out his duties over in France before dropping an anchor in

England. El-Abd is the Director of Rugby for French Pro D2 club Oyonnax, and will be spending his time between Twickenham and the Alpine town throughout the rest of the 2024/25 season. “I

now speak French and English really badly. For this season until the end of the season, when there’s an England camp, for this three days or for the autumn series, I will be with England

100%. When we’re not in camp, I’ll be back in with Oyonnax. “Am I good at compartmentalising? We’re going to find out. I’ve juggled enough things in my lifetime to know that can work, and

that there are huge positives until the end of this season. When you’re not in camp, what are you not doing? I’m going to be coaching, which is a real positive we can have. We need to work

on our coaching craft, which is not just about the Xs and the Os. I’ll be in camp with England when we are all together. When I am not, I’ll be back in Oyonnax.” El-Abd has spent the past 15

years living in France, first as a player and later branching into the coaching world. The former Toulon man would often unintentionally drop French words into his answers, with the impact

of a decade and a half in the land of Les Bleus presented in his at times ‘Fr-Anglais’ dialect. El-Abd began his life in France in 2009, as he swapped the West Country for the French

Riviera, after his move from Bristol down to Toulon. “15 years ago, in 2009, we (El-Abd’s family) decided we wanted to come to France to experience something different. I would have been

quite happy to sign anywhere in France because I just wanted to experience something different and to enjoy it. It was a time when Toulon were on the up and it was a fantastic experience.

“We probably thought I would do two or three years and then come back. Fifteen years later, we’re still there. There’s obviously something we’re enjoying about that lifestyle. “We’ve been in

Toulon, in Castres and now we’re close to Oyonnax, near Lyon and Geneva. At the moment, because everything happened so quickly, we’re staying there. We’ll see what happens moving forward;

we’ll decide all together as a family but also with what we need to do as a job.” El-Abd was apart of the star-studded Toulon side, that featured the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Bryan Habana,

Bakkies Botha and Carl Hayman, to name but a few. Whilst El-Abd left Toulon a season before the French super-club began their trio of consecutive Heineken Cups, he did take home a runners-up

medal from the Challenge Cup, as well as bountiful experiences on how a team of star talents can work as one cohesive unit. “All the experiences I’ve had throughout my career have shaped

me. Growing up, playing football, moving into rugby, being in Bristol where I had a great time. A great team spirit and the thing that I’ve learned in France is that the team spirit has

moved into the ‘d’etat d’esprit’ (state of mind), there’s something je ne sais pas quoi (I don’t know what) about that. “In Toulon we had these players, Jonny Wilkinson, Bakkies Botha, Carl

Hayman, I could go on… but what you realise is having great talent is something really important, but it’s the cohesion as well that is the difference and how can they connect as individuals

to create a team. That was something that helped form me.” El-Abd left Toulon in 2012, with his move to Oyonnax providing him with a vastly contrasting backdrop from his former home. In

El-Abd’s eyes, Oyonnax is an anomaly within the global rugby landscape, as a team based in small town within the French Alps ‘shouldn’t exist’ towards the top of the French divisions.

“Moving over to Oyonnax, I don’t know if you know where it is, when I was moving from Toulon to Oyonnax I asked the French players ‘what can you tell me about it?’ and they said, ‘where is

it, is it in France?’ That is Oyonnax, it’s tiny, there are 20,000 people there, it’s in the middle of the mountains, it shouldn’t really exist in the rugby landscape as it does.” El-Abd

would see out his playing days with Oyonnax, and immediately moved into a coaching role with the French D2 side. In 2014 El-Abd hung up his boots and took up the whistle, as he was announced

as Oyonnax’s new forwards coach, a position he held for just the sole season. El-Abd moved on to Castres for the 2015/16 season, and took up the mantle of forwards coach once more. The

pinnacle accomplishment in El-Abd’s time with the Occitanie club, was being apart of their 2017/18 Top 14 title triumph. El-Abd believes that season of silverware helped shape him into the

coach he is today. “Then moving over to Castres, as a defence coach and forwards coach, we were a small coaching unit. Christophe Urios who is now in Clermont was important for me. A small

town, that has means to compete at the highest level. Winning a Top 14 title was unbelievable, and that forged the way I coach today and led me then to say, ‘right, next job, what is it?’.

That led me to being a director of rugby, I could have continued in the Top 14 as a defence and forwards coach but I wanted that challenge, that next step.” Despite the glory he found at

Castres Olimpique, El-Abd’s first French love remained at Oyonnax. The plucky underdogs had a certain allure that attracted El-Abd back to the Alps, yet this time the former forwards coach

had been promoted up the ranks to hold the club’s Director of Rugby title. It was in this second stint that his family became apart of the Oyonnax community, yet his children will proudly

wear the red rose instead of the French tricolour. “We’ve had three kids in that time, all of them born in France. They speak English at home with us and then go to school and speak French.

They are fervent English supporters. I don’t know why that is. That’s something that is quite fascinating. You ask them who they’re supporting, England or France. It’s not even a question.”

“We managed to go up for the first ever time to the Top 14, stay up, then qualify for the end of season playoffs and lose by a point to Toulouse. For a little town like that, that experience

helps you. What is the most important, you haven’t got all the money for the bells and whistles.” This second stint in Oyonnax began in 2019, and as it will continue until Spring of 2025,

the tenure will be the longest of El-Abd’s coaching career. However, as all good things must come to an end, the DoR had been planting the seeds of his departure, so that Oyonnax are in a

solid position to move on, once El-Abd solidifies his exit, and embarks on his sole mission with England. “There’s nothing higher than being England’s defence coach if you are a defence

coach. They always say you should never fall in love with a club, but when you’re there and are in France, and your family are integrating in the town, obviously you’ve got an attachment to

it, and that loyalty. “We’ve always said there will be an “after Joe El-Abd” in Oyonnax. I was quite conscious of that. When we left if was difficult for them (El-Abd’s family), they had

four years when I was in Castres that were very difficult for them. When I arrived I said ‘there will be an after and we need to work on that now’. “This transition is really important to

me. Giving over the baton is really important to me. It was a natural progression, and especially when this opportunity came up, it was right for everyone.” With such an eclectic mix of

experiences moulding him into the England defence coach we see today, El-Abd prides himself upon his time at Oyonnax just as much of his playing days in Toulon. Whilst his on-field

associations with Jonny Wilkinson and Bakkies Botha take the headlines, El-Abd believes that his career is about more than just rubbing shoulders with the legends of the game. “I’m very

proud of that journey, not just Toulon, that everyone wants to talk about, but every stage along the way.” El-Abd added. Looking towards the future, and El-Abd is not out to rip up England’s

defensive playbook. The new member of Borthwick’s brigade has his sights set on taking what already exists in England’s blitz defence, and continuously improving the execution. El-Abd

identified how England are a side that love getting off the line, and that this defensive DNA is set to stay under his guidance. “Felix is still working with us at distance. So I had a real

good chat with Felix. Felix was really, really helpful. We did on video call. So it was a bit multinational, because we went France, Ireland, and I think we had a couple of connectors from

England to talk about what’s been going well.  “So, we’re a team that loves getting off the line, and getting off the line is Blitz. You call it whatever you want to do. It’s not the

terminology we use, but we want to put the ‘adversaire’, the opposition under pressure. That’s not going to change. “So the DNA of England rugby is being tough, getting off the line, being a

tough forward unit, etc. 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.  __ “Okay, and see what we can add to go even further. We know that from now until the World Cup, etc, 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. And that’s the exciting prospect and for me, in any case.”