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Attack

Jones a key part of the picture in Munster and Schmidt calls on him too

The 29-year-old has transitioned into coaching after being forced to retire in 2015.

ONE OF FELIX Jones’ final-year projects for his degree in Classics and Geography in UCD was on columns.

Greek columns and their development, to be exact.

Jones laughs about his choice of topic now – “don’t ask me why I picked that!” – but it does give us an insight into the intellect of man who has found himself part of Munster’s coaching team at the age of 29.

[image alt="Felix Jones" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/04/felix-jones-23-630x463.jpg" width="630" height="463" class="alignnone" /end]

Cruelly forced to retire with a neck injury in 2015 following 13 caps for Ireland and 90 for Munster, Jones had other options in life thanks to his ongoing education, but rugby didn’t relinquish its grip for long and now the former fullback is thriving in a new role.

Jones is still in his first season as a professional coach but already he is making a big impression, with Munster’s players raving about his impact and Joe Schmidt inviting him to join the Ireland set-up for the week of the second Test against Japan in June.

“I’ve a lot more appreciation for my previous coaches,” says Jones with a smile when asked to sum up his new lease of life with Munster.

He feels that nothing will ever compare to the enjoyment of playing, but Jones has wholeheartedly thrown himself into the job with Munster, overseeing their attack and backs play under director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and helping them into today’s Champions Cup semi-final against Saracens [KO 3.15pm, BT Sport].

He first coached at his old school, St. Andrew’s College, returning the season after he graduated and continuing to help out as he made his way through Leinster’s academy, before winning a single cap for the province at senior level.

While his move to Munster in 2009 and the subsequent efforts to successfully establish himself as an important member of the southern province’s squad took over in the proceeding years, Jones always had some yearning to coach.

“I think the way I finished, or towards the back end of it – I’m not saying I was a coach as a player, no way – but definitely as I was doing things as a player, it organically led me there,” says the ex-Seapoint RFC man. ”It was definitely something I had considered.”

Having been forced to retire from playing, Jones began to visit clubs and schools around Ireland to get a taste for what would be involved in full-time coaching.

He ventured further afield too, visiting Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins and Premiership outfit Northampton as he realised that coaching was for him.

“It was just good to open my eyes because all I knew was Munster. It was nice to see how things were done differently, good and bad things. Some things were reassurances or reaffirmations, and other things made me go, ‘Wow, that’s something I’d never think of.’”

[image alt="Simon Zebo with Felix Jones at the end of the game 22/10//2016" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/04/simon-zebo-with-felix-jones-at-the-end-of-the-game-22102016-630x449.jpg" width="630" height="449" class="alignnone" /end]

Anthony Foley was hugely supportive in bringing fellow Shannon man Jones into the Munster set-up last season, with Jones impressing in contributing to a handful of training sessions on an informal basis.

Jones was in the midst of studying a Master’s in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology in UL at the time, a degree for which he still has a thesis to complete.

But Munster’s players were convinced by Jones’ visits and the province ensured that he was part of the picture when Rassie Erasmus’ arrival signalled changes behind the scenes. The South African was impressed with Jones too, and he now finds himself directing much of the province’s attack.

“We all met very, very early before pre-season, before we started coaching,” explains Jones when asked how Munster decided on their attacking philosophy.

“Axel was there at the time, and we all sat down and over the course of a week or two weeks of meeting solidly – some long, long days – we all aligned and thrashed out people’s feelings on how we should played. We all agreed on that.

“Now, it’s changed and developed as the season has gone on but we agreed on something as a coaching staff, then we presented back to the players and they all agreed. We’ve taken it from there. It still develops along the way as to how we see the game, but it’s everyone’s.”

Jones’ role is full on and involves more hours than he could have imagined, although it’s clear that many of those hours are self-imposed.

Players have spoken about how incredibly well-prepared Jones always is, having gone through mountains of video work in order to be able to present the relevant information to Munster’s players.

Jones admits he’s watching “a crazy amount” of rugby – “more rugby than I’ve ever watched in my life” – and while the majority of that is based on Munster’s own games and those of their opposition, he tries to keep en eye on trends from elsewhere in the world.

“I would have anticipated being able to do that more, it’s something I want to do more but it is difficult,” says Jones. “This year, there’s been a lot of high-pressure games and you feel you have to stay on our task.

[image alt="Felix Jones and Rassie Erasmus" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/04/felix-jones-and-rassie-erasmus-2-630x409.jpg" width="630" height="409" class="alignnone" /end]

“But you have to look elsewhere to see what other guys are doing and then when the international windows come around, watch what they’re doing. That’s very, very important I believe, as they’re at the forefront.”

Keeping up to date with his network of contacts in the coaching world is a vital part of his learning curve too, with the likes of former Munster centre/assistant coach and current Hurricanes attack coach Jason Holland being trusted confidantes.

“I would stay in touch with Dutchy and he was over the week of the Maori game [in November], and he’s a great, great man,” says Jones.

“Again, I probably didn’t appreciate how good a coach he was when I was a player. As a player, you just keep going, getting through it, and I just don’t feel I appreciated my coaches in terms of how much workload they actually have. It’s not as easy at it looks.

“Dutchy is a good guy to bounce ideas off and to chat through things with.”

But closer to home, Jones has benefited from working closely with the two South Africans who have been leading the Munster project – Erasmus and his assistant Jacques Nienaber.

While the technical and tactical lessons have been vital, perhaps the most important thing Jones has learned from the South African pair is on the delivery front; how they communicate their message to the Munster players.

“With Rassie and Jacques, we’ve got two guys who are as experienced as anyone, so it’s good to have that in-house, being able to bounce ideas off them,” says Jones.

“Even with Jacques, we were able to have a conversation late, late, late last night based on what we wanted to do the next day in training, asking one or two questions around where we see things going.

“Jacques is a pretty special coach, he’s phenomenal. It’s everything. Technically, he’s like no other coach I’ve ever seen.

[image alt="Jacques Nienaber" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/04/jacques-nienaber-3-630x430.jpg" width="630" height="430" class="alignnone" /end]

“Then his delivery, how he packages it for the players, he packages it so well and makes it simple for them. He removes – Rassie does this also – they remove expectation and put it back on effort and enjoyment, it’s a great way to coach I believe.”

With Jerry Flannery doing an excellent job with Munster’s scrum, it’s a happy coaching team at the province and they have guided this squad of players to a superb season so far, one that could get even better today against Saracens.

Typically for a man as humble as Jones, he is keen to stress that it’s the Munster players who have been driving the renaissance.

“At the moment the thing I’m getting the most satisfaction out of, whether it has something to do with my or not, I’m enjoying getting to see the guys rewarded for the work they’re putting in.

“Seeing them come in every Monday and look for feedback, the guys that you see doing their analysis, then see them train hard and put the effort in, then they get rewarded with an international cap – guys like Niall Scannell or Andrew Conway this year.

“Rory [Scannell] is getting close, Sweets has been phenomenal this year, I know he’s making waves. Ronan O’Mahony is putting the work in, not just this year, but year after year after year. He’s top try-scorer in the Pro12 and probably has more minutes than anyone in the Munster squad.

“That for me is where I’m getting most enjoyment, seeing their journey and the enjoyment they’re getting out of it.”

Away from rugby, Jones still has that thesis to complete for his Master’s and he has been thankful for the understanding of Tadhg MacIntyre and Mark Campbell in UL as he has buried himself in his Munster job.

His best-laid plans in terms of the thesis may not come to fruition, but Jones will finish his degree in the near future.

“I was very much going down the route of physiotherapists’ role in the psychological rehabilitation of athletes, or at least their perceptions of the psychological impact injury has on athletes.

[image alt="IrelandÕs Felix Jones" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/04/irelandos-felix-jones-630x463.jpg" width="630" height="463" class="alignnone" /end]

“But that would require a huge, huge amount of time so I’m not too sure, I might have to go down a different avenue.”

For now, rugby is non-stop and Jones will hope to help his Munster players to silverware before jetting out to join Schmidt and Ireland in Japan in June as part of the same plans that will see Ronan O’Gara and Girvan Dempsey involved.

The idea was first put to Jones by Schmidt earlier this year on one of the Ireland head coach’s visits to Munster and he jumped at the opportunity, which will see him join the national team in time for the first Japan Test and spend the week in the build-up to the second clash in Tokyo with them.

“I really am looking forward to seeing how another coaching team prepares for a week because all I know is how we do it, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that happens and what I can take from that,” says Jones.

“Because it’s a Test match with a very quick turnaround with a very limited number of players, it will be interesting to see how that’s done, how they prepare.

“What do I want to give to it? I’ll give whatever it is I’m specifically tasked to do, or if there’s any preparation I need to do, I just want to give it all of my effort. I’ll know a lot of the guys that are out there, so hopefully I can help them prepare for that third Test.”

It was telling that Joe Schmidt mentioned that Jones had been “superb to coach as a player” when confirming that the Munster assistant was filling one of the three part-time roles with Ireland this summer.

Now working tirelessly as a coach himself, Jones can appreciate that compliment even more.

[image alt="Felix Jones" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/04/felix-jones-24-630x446.jpg" width="630" height="446" class="alignnone" /end]

“It’s a lovely comment. To be honest, when I was a player I had a similar mentality to what I have now as a coach – just giving my best effort.

“If I’m wrong and I make an error, of course, I’d be disappointed and want to do better, but I know full well that it wasn’t through lack of effort.

“I’m taking that same approach now, trying to prepare the guys.

“Sometimes I might get a few things wrong, say the wrong thing or see the wrong things or convey the wrong things back to them, and I’ll hold up my hand and say it was wrong, but I’ve genuinely given my best effort. That’s how I approach things.”

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