Jones rolls up his sleeves for Rugby World Cup spot

Kingsley Jones got an early taste of what’s waiting for him if he can get Canada past Uruguay and into the 2019 Rugby World Cup — a lot of attention from back home.

Hired last month as the new head coach of the Canadian men’s national team, the Welshman had been identifying talent for his country’s rugby union when he accepted the new position on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

As he started to tell colleagues about the move, most of Jones’ conversations veered toward the fact the winner of the two-leg tie between Canada and Uruguay set for early next year will be placed in the same World Cup pool as Wales.

Welsh Rugby Union chairman Gareth Davies had a simple message for Canada’s new boss.

“The first thing he says is, ‘You can go, but you don’t beat Wales,’” Jones recalled with a laugh. “It was on their radar, it was on everyone’s radar straight away.”

Jones was in Vancouver Tuesday to meet the media as part of the announcement that Canada, ranked 24th in the world, will play host to the first leg of the aggregate qualifying series against No. 18 Uruguay at B.C. Place Stadium on Jan. 27.

The return fixture in Uruguay is Feb. 3.

Jones enters his new role in the deep end after Canada missed out on a chance to qualify for the World Cup earlier this year in a two-leg series with the United States.

Canada and the U.S. tied 28-28 in Hamilton before the Americans thumped their neighbours 52-16 in San Diego, Calif., to grab the region’s first qualifying spot.

That demoralizing setback led to the dismissal of Canadian head coach Mark Anscombe and last month’s hiring of Jones, who sees a lot of potential, but understands the challenges he faces.

“The issues in international rugby is everyone moves forward and if you stand still, you’re dead,” said the former Welsh captain, who coached Russia from 2011 to 2014. “I’m fully confident that with the players we can bring back into the environment, we can do the job.”

A number of players will be based at Rugby Canada’s facility in Langford, while many of the more talented or well-established members of the squad will continue to ply their trades professionally overseas.

“There will be surprises,” said Jones. “The biggest thing is to have centralized players and to get your hands on them and coach them.”