Three months ago at the Stade de France, Joe Lewis was in his usual matchday spot, perched behind a laptop within earshot of Steve Borthwick. As one of England’s senior analysts, he had access to the team’s black box of data. He knows all of the secrets.
Lewis is someone who operates in the shadows, his influence unseen to the public eye. He does not court headlines but this week will be different ahead of England’s titanic Nations Championship opener in Johannesburg. Life moves quickly and, on Saturday, Lewis will be a part of the Springbok coaching team.
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has poached the man who has sat in almost all of England’s tactical meetings since 2017. Erasmus is a cunning operator and this is one of his craftiest moves yet.
Lewis’s gardening leave with the RFU only finished four weeks ago but he has already been to the Nike store in Johannesburg to be kitted out in gold and green. He went for a steak dinner with the Springbok players at Spur restaurant and played a round of golf with Erasmus on Friday at the River Club.
Under Borthwick, Lewis was the analyst who specialised in the set-piece, defence and the breakdown. He worked closely with the likes of Jamie George and Maro Itoje who saw him as a second lineout coach. He kept archives of every team presentation but now all of his intellectual property is in Erasmus’s hands.
Lewis handed in his notice in April. Daily Mail Sport understands he suffered a family bereavement over Christmas and resigned during the Six Nations as the demands of the campaign affected his grieving family.
Joe Lewis (in front of Steve Borthwick) has sat in almost all of England’s tactical meetings since 2017
South Africa’s double World Cup-winning head coach Rassie Erasmus (right) is a cunning operator and this is one of his craftiest moves yet
As news of his resignation spread through the rugby world, Lewis received a phone call from Springboks defence coach Felix Jones, who began working for England in 2023. Lewis was Jones’s defence analyst and they kept in touch after he quit in 2024.
Jones told Erasmus to bring Lewis on board and the Springboks wasted no time in agreeing a contract. Lewis informed the RFU of his new role after the management’s post-Six Nations review and he was immediately removed from handover projects.
Erasmus has now created a South African coaching team with voices from New Zealand, Ireland, England and Wales. He calls it the ‘Foreign Legion’ and believes his brains trust will help win a third consecutive World Cup.
‘Joe as a Welshman understands what Wales is going through, but was also involved with the English team,’ said Erasmus. ‘Every single time you’re sitting in a meeting, you’re privileged to have this guy telling you about this league and that skillset. We learn from each other. We get together in camp and we make it work. It’s fiery. It’s like oxygen and a light.
‘In the past people were going, “Let’s protect ourselves, let’s not let people infiltrate us and know how we do things”. There’s power in knowing what other teams know. The players learn things in the Japanese league. Thomas du Toit plays for Bath and tells us things that he learns. There’s no way an international team can be better if they just hide everything and have their own guys. It’s a massive thing for me.’
According to Springbok insiders, Lewis has already presented numerous times in the build-up to Saturday’s Test at Ellis Park. His deep knowledge of England’s lineouts could cause problems, which may force Borthwick to adapt the team’s strategy for the Nations Championship game.
Borthwick has replaced Lewis with the popular Leicester analyst Matt Egan, who must quickly get up to speed. According to former No 10 Dan Biggar, who previously worked under Lewis in Wales, the change in analysts will be a significant factor this week.
‘I worked with Joe directly when I first started in professional rugby at the Ospreys,’ said Biggar. ‘He’s exceptional at what he does. The way he sees the game is very different to other analysts I’ve worked with and the detailed feedback and analysis he provides gives every player he works with a chance of being successful.
Borthwick’s secrets are being spilled by his former analyst
Felix Jones, one of Borthwick’s former lieutenants, was the man who convinced Lewis to join him with the Springboks
‘Joe is very much what I’d call an on-pitch analyst. He provides players with constant feedback during training. With a lot of analysts I’ve worked with, they film training and then you catch up with them after in the team room or one evening to go through clips. Joe does that in real time. He’ll be on the field with an iPad showing players all different things, like angles of running. He’s obviously not a coach, but at times he operates a little bit like one rather than just an analyst.
‘His first game coming against England certainly adds an extra edge. Will he know a couple of England’s calls? Maybe. But at international level, teams change things like lineout calls weekly. I’d be surprised if England haven’t done that.
‘What Joe will be able to bring to South Africa is knowledge of England’s approach – things like how their tactical philosophy changed between the Italy and French games in the Six Nations. He’ll also be invaluable to South Africa with his knowledge of players like Seb Atkinson, Max Ojomoh and Guy Pepper – guys who might not be as well known to the Springboks.
‘They’ll know all about Tommy Freeman, but maybe not so much on the likes of Atkinson. That could be invaluable. Rassie has built the best coaching ticket in world rugby which is why he wanted Joe. He’s one of the best in the world at what he does.’
If England’s task in South Africa was not hard enough before, Lewis’s presence in the green and gold will make it that little bit trickier.