'I'm with England for the long haul' - coach El-Abd

Joe El-Abd says the carousel of coaching changes in Steve Borthwick's set-up stops with him as he takes charge of England defence.

The 44-year-old succeeds Felix Jones, who resigned after only seven months in the role.

Jones himself took over from Kevin Sinfield who switched to a job looking after skills and kicking less than two years after being appointed as defence coach.

The departure of conditioning coaches Aled Walters and Tom Tombleson this year has added to the disruption.

"I'm here for the long haul, definitely," former Bristol flanker El-Abd told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It is so exciting to have this role at this time. It is a dream come true."

El-Abd's relationship with Borthwick goes back to their days as teenagers. They were house-mates at Bath University, before the friends forged playing and coaching careers at opposing West Country clubs and then different sides of the English Channel.

The Rugby Football Union have been in contact with El-Abd since inviting him to coach an England XV's defence in a non-cap match against the Barbarians in June 2019.

"Obviously that's going to be great working with Steve," he said. "I have known Steve for 26 years and over that time we have always challenged each other – he was captain of Bath, I was captain of Bristol, and there was obviously a great rivalry during that period.

"I am looking forward to using that relationship to drive this team forward."

El-Abd will initially combine his work with England with a final season as head coach of Oyonnax as the French second-tier side attempt to regain their place in the Top 14.

"I will have to compartmentalise the roles, but when I am here, I am all in," he said.

El-Abd says that he does not plan to uproot the basis of the defensive system put in place during Jones' stint.

Jones transplanted the fast, high-risk 'blitz' defence that he developed over four years and two successful Rugby World Cup campaigns with South Africa into England's tactics.

"Now my job is to come in and take what is working, and there has been lots," El-Abd added.

"We are going to continue to come up hard off the line and be dominant in the collisions and now we want to see where we can go even further.

"Teams will be watching us to see what they can do and we need to be one step ahead all the time."

Northampton full-back George Furbank expects evolution, rather than revolution, from El-Abd.

"I think Joe recognises that our defence has taken leaps and strides recently so I don't think he's coming in to rip the paper up and start afresh," said Furbank.

"He's just looking to add layers and keep improving it. It is not going to be too complicated, but he's definitely going to bring his touch to it, which is just exciting."