SA Rugby has confirmed the appointment of former Ireland utility back Felix Jones as a defence consultant for the Springboks during the World Cup.

The 32-year-old Jones will join the squad in Japan on a short-term consultancy, filling the vacancy left by the withdrawal for medical reasons of Swys de Bruin.

But while De Bruin was South Africa’s attack coach, his replacement in the coaching team will take on a different role as requested by the players, focusing on ‘defensive patterns and structures’.

Jones had previously worked with Erasmus at Munster before the latter took up the job as Springbok coach and SA Rugby director of rugby.

Erasmus reportedly contacted Jones last year, but he was still contracted with Munster at the time. His contract with the Pro14 has since expired.

The Bok coach said that he was fortunate that Jones was available at a time when most coaches were already engaged at club or international level.

Jones, 32, won 13 caps for Ireland at fullback or wing during a 10-year playing career with Leinster and Munster. He was part of Ireland’s 2015 Six Nations title-winning squad and also represented his country at the Sevens Rugby World Cup in 2009.

He stopped playing at the age of 28 and went straight into coaching with his last province, Munster, where he helped the team to three consecutive Heineken Cup semi-finals before leaving the province earlier this year.

In 2017 he was as an assistant coach to the Irish national coaching team for their summer tour.

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