Felix Jones (born 5 August 1987) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach and former player. He played primarily as a fullback, but could also play on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. In October 2015, Jones was forced to retire from rugby due to a neck injury. He moved into coaching after retiring from playing, and is currently a coach with the South Africa national team.

Early life

Jones played mini-rugby for Seapoint and continued to play for the club right up to the take-off of his professional career. He was a member of Seapoint's All-Ireland Junior Cup-winning team in 2007. He attended St. Andrew's College in Dublin, where he played for the schools Junior and Senior Cup teams.

Playing career

Leinster

Jones played for Leinster's under-19 team (2 caps), under-20 team (4 caps) and A team (13 caps) before making his Leinster first XV debut against

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

in February 2008.

Munster

Jones made his Munster debut against

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in September 2009 and played 6 games before injuring his neck against

in December 2009. Jones made his comeback against Aironi in September 2010, and played 3 games before injuring his knee against Ospreys in the same month. He was out until March 2011. He made his European debut for Munster against Brive in April 2011. Jones was part of the Munster team that won the

2010–11 Magners League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

. Jones made his comeback from the injury that ruled him out of the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

on 10 February 2012, playing 80 minutes for Shannon in their

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game against

Young Munster Young Munster is a rugby union club based in Limerick, Ireland, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. It was founded in 1895 and plays its games at Tom Clifford Park in Rosbrien, Limerick. Club honours have included nine wins in th ...

. He made his comeback for Munster in a

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

fixture against

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on 18 February 2012. Jones made his Heineken Cup debut in the quarter-final against Ulster on 8 April 2012. He missed Munster's league play-off semi-final against Ospreys on 11 May 2012 when he picked up a shoulder injury in training. The shoulder injury ruled him out for at least 4 months, as it required surgery. Jones returned from the injury on 13 October 2012, playing a full 80 minutes for Munster A. He then came off the bench in Munster's second round Heineken Cup tie against Edinburgh on 21 October 2012. Jones underwent successful knee surgery in late January 2013, and is expected to be back in action for Munster by March 2013. He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in February 2013. Jones captained Munster in their 21–10 win against

on 12 September 2014.

Ireland

An injury to

Luke Fitzgerald Luke Matthew Fitzgerald (born 13 September 1987) is a former rugby union player. He played at Wing (rugby union), winger or Fullback (rugby union), fullback for Leinster Rugby, Leinster. He retired in June 2016. Having previously studied at Blac ...

gave Jones a call-up to the Ireland under-20 team which went on to achieve a Grand Slam in the 2007 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, with Jones scoring two tries in the opening fixture against Wales. In total, Jones earned 5 caps for the Ireland Under-20 team. Jones has represented Ireland A three times and was a member of the squad which won the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

in 2009. Jones was selected in Ireland's squad for the

warm-ups in August. He earned his first cap as a substitute in the game against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 6 August 2011. His second cap came against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 13 August 2011, again as a substitute. His first start for Ireland came against France on 20 August. However, an ankle ligament injury sustained in an awkward fall against France dashed Jones's hopes of playing at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, as the injury ruled him out for the duration of the tournament. Jones was named in the Ireland squad for the 2013 Ireland tour to North America on 19 May 2013. He came off the bench against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on 8 June 2013. Jones started in Ireland's 40–14 victory against

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on 15 June 2013. Jones was called up as injury-cover to Ireland's squad for the 2013 Guinness Series on 19 November 2013. Jones started for

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

in their friendly against

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

on 25 January 2014. On 27 January 2014, Jones was named in Ireland's 34-man squad for the opening two fixtures of the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championshi ...

. Jones was named in the Ireland squad for their 2014 Tour to Argentina on 19 May 2014. He started the first test against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 7 June 2014. Jones was named in the Ireland squad for the 2014 Guinness Series on 21 October 2014. Jones came off the bench during the 29–15 win against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 8 November 2014. He started against

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on 16 November 2014, scoring two tries in the 49–7 win. Jones came on in the 26–23 win against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 22 November 2014. Jones captained

in their game against

on 30 January 2015. He was named in the Ireland squad for the opening rounds of the

2015 Six Nations Championship The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested b ...

on 1 February 2015. He came off the bench against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 7 February 2015. Jones came off the bench in the 19–9 win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 1 March 2015. England's failure to score enough points against France meant Ireland won the 2015 Six Nations Championship, the first time Ireland have won back-to-back championships since 1948–49. Jones was nominated for the

IRUPA The Rugby Players Ireland is the representative body for professional rugby players in Ireland. Founded in October 2001, its aims are to promote and protect the welfare of professional rugby players in Ireland. The Chief Executive Officer is Si ...

Medal For Excellence 2015 in April 2015. Jones was named in the 45-man training squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

on 24 June 2015. He started in the first World Cup warm-up against Wales on 8 August 2015, scoring a try in the 35–21 win for Ireland. Jones came off the bench in the warm-up game against Wales on 29 August 2015.

Coaching career

Jones joined the Munster coaching team ahead of the 2016–17 season as a technical coach. After helping Munster reach the semi finals of the

2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup was the third European Rugby Champions Cup championship (22nd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The competition replaced the Heineken ...

and the 2017 Pro12 Grand Final, he signed a two-year contract extension with the province which saw his role expand to backs and attack coach. As well as coaching with Munster, Jones also assisted

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

head coach Joe Schmidt with the national teams

tour of Japan The Tour of Japan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Japan since 1996 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.1 category race. History Tour of Japan was form ...

in June 2017. He left Munster's coaching staff in June 2019. Ahead of the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

, Jones joined the South African national team as a defence consultant. South Africa's head coach is

Rassie Erasmus Johan "Rassie" Erasmus (born 5 November 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the South African national team from 2018 to the end of their 2019 World Cup campaign, doubling up on his duties as ...

, who was director of rugby at

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

when Jones began his coaching career with the province.

Honors

Munster

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

: **Winner (1): 2010–11

Ireland A

: **Winner (1):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Ireland

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

: **Winner (1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

South Africa

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

: **Winner (1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

Leinster ProfileMunster ProfilePro14 Profile
*
Ireland Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Felix 1987 births Living people People educated at St Andrew's College, Dublin Rugby union players from County Dublin Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players Munster Rugby players Shannon RFC players Irish rugby union coaches Munster Rugby non-playing staff Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland international rugby sevens players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings