New defence coach Joe El-Abd has played down concerns over England’s spate of coaching changes by insisting Manchester United continued to be successful under Sir Alex Ferguson, despite him refreshing his backroom staff.
El-Abd was hired by the RFU last month after the previous defence coach, Felix Jones, resigned after England’s summer tour to New Zealand.
Jones left just seven months after being hired and Aled Walters, the head of strength and conditioning, departed in August, too.
It has raised concerns England could suffer from the coaching changes off the back of a promising tour to New Zealand, where they narrowly lost both Tests.
El-Abd, who will share his new role while working as the director of rugby for Oyonnax for the rest of this season, believes “stability” will come now ahead of the Autumn internationals and is not worried by changes happening in the backroom.
“I’m just going to use Alex Ferguson as an example,” he said. “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.
“I think coaching stability is important. I think that helps. I think the coaching cohesion is even more important, you know, because then if we’re all on the same page, we can question each other hard. What do we do well, what do well? What do we not do well, especially, what do we not do well, to take it forward?
“In any sport, you see it in football, you see it in rugby, and having a cohesive coaching teams are important, does that mean that there’s never any changes? No.”
England head coach Steve Borthwick has a close relationship with El-Abd and the pair have known each since their days together at university.
El-Abd says it did not take long to accept the chance to work with England, once the logistics of job-sharing with Oyonnax were worked out, and he believes he can build on the foundations laid.
“I don’t think he (Borthwick) needed to sell it, in the sense, this is the best defensive job you can have,” he said.
“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.”
