Jones handed in his resignation in August, solely seven months after becoming a member of the England set-up from Rugby World Cup-winning South Africa.
The lack of the extremely rated Jones got here “out of the blue” and was “deeply disappointing”, in line with Rugby Soccer Union chief govt Invoice Sweeney.
Jones has a 12-month discover interval as a part of his contract and is anticipated to proceed as a part of the England teaching set-up, working remotely to offer tactical evaluation.
El-Abd has a protracted relationship with Borthwick, with the pair sharing a flat throughout their days at Tub College within the early 2000s.
Whereas Borthwick progressed to turn out to be a mainstay of the Tub pack, El-Abd constructed his profession at Bristol earlier than shifting crossing the Channel to play for Toulon and Oyonnax.
As a forwards and defence coach El-Abd helped Oyonnax to the second-tier Professional D2 title in 2013 and Champions Cup qualification two years later.
He crammed the identical position at Castres for 4 years – a spell that included a 2018 High 14 title – earlier than returning to Oyonnax as director of rugby in 2019.
Underneath his management the membership have been promoted again to the High 14 in 2023, however suffered a right away return to Professional D2 final season, successful seven of 26 video games.
“Joe’s data, ardour for the sport, and confirmed expertise in creating high-performing groups, can be key to the squad’s ongoing improvement,” mentioned Borthwick.
“Joe embodies the qualities we worth within the England rugby workforce and am I certain he’ll add to the environment and rapidly ship continued enhancements to our sport.”
Oyonnax president Dougal Bendjaballah had insisted he wouldn’t permit El-Abd to go away his present publish earlier than subsequent summer time and has delivered on his promise.
Oyonnax are presently midtable in Professional D2 after two wins from 4 video games.