Joe El-Abd has promised evolution rather than revolution after taking over from Felix Jones as defence coach – but he revealed England will not be using the “B-word” on his watch.
Steve Borthwick turned to El-Abd – who he has known for 26 years – after a summer of turmoil for England after the departures of Jones, Aled Walters and Tom Tombleson from the backroom staff. El-Abd stressed the importance of “loyalty” and “commitment” after his first outing at a mini-training camp this week but does not intend to rip up Jones’s blitz defence strategy, which has shown such promise in recent matches.
