2,000 say farewell to rugby legend at stadium
He had a tremendous gift to reach people and communicate, no matter where you come from or who you are
POPULAR Welsh rugby figure Phil Kingsley Jones has been honoured in New Zealand at a moving funeral service.
Around 2,000 people turned up at the Counties Manukau Stadium in Pukekohe to show their respect to the man who launched the career of Jonah Lomu.
Jones’ son, former Wales captain Kingsley Jones, was one of many speakers to pay tribute to his father during a two-hour service on Friday.
Senior students from Wesley College, where Jones first discovered a teenage Lomu, performed a spine-tingling haka as his coffin was brought onto the pitch.
Mourners packed into the stands for the celebration of life, with the wake held inside the lounge at the stadium named after him.
Son Kingsley, who had applied to the New Zealand government for special dispensation to enter the country from Canada amid the coronavirus pandemic, told the gathered crowd: “There are so many stories and so much laughter.
“He had a tremendous gift to reach people and communicate, no matter where you come from or who you are.
“It really started hitting me this morning because what I always do when I don’t know what to say, or am in a tight spot, is ring my father. This was the first time of many, I’m sure, when I want to ring him and he’s not going to be there.
“That is the same for so many and says so much for him and the people he has reached.”
Kingsley, who told mourners of Phil’s remarkable sense of humour, also spoke of his dad’s pride in him when he played international rugby for Wales, describing how he cried into his jersey ahead of one match.
Other speakers included John
Lomu, Jonah’s brother. Jones managed Jonah Lomu for most of his astonishing career, becoming a father figure to him for many years.
The service saw the hearse carrying Jones do a lap of the pitch before a further haka tribute from players and representatives of the Counties team was performed and a guard of honour was formed.
Jones, aged 72, died in Auckland last month after battling serious ill-health following a fall in April.
The former Blaina, Ebbw Vale and Abertillery player also coached the Tongan national team.
He was a huge figure in New Zealand rugby for many years after moving there in 1983, becoming a legend at the Counties-Manukau Rugby Union, which he joined in 1989.
He is survived by his wife, Verina, two daughters, Rhianon and Vikki, son Kingsley and stepson James.
Son Kingsley