Crowning glory puts Alun Wyn on course to be the Lions king
DURING the Ashes series of 1981, a letter appeared in The Guardian newspaper wondering if the iconic England captain Mike Brearley was blessed with unearthly powers.
“On Friday,” the missive ran, “I watched J.M. Brearley directing his fieldsmen very carefully. He then looked up at the sun and made a gesture which seemed to indicate that it should move a little squarer. Who is this man?”
One of the great sports captains of all time, that’s who.
Brearley possessed the gift of bringing the best out of those around him. He also had an astute tactical brain. And he was bold when he needed to be.
In the legendary series of 40 years ago, Australia couldn’t live with him. The whole affair was to be written up as Ian Botham’s Ashes, but in his own unassuming way it was very much Brearley’s finest hour, too, with his leadership on a different level.
Richie Benaud reckoned fortune was important, if not everything, saying: “Captaincy is 90 percent luck and 10 percent skill. But don’t try it without that 10 percent.”
Whatever it is, Alun Wyn Jones has it.
It’s been pointed out that last week against England he took it upon himself to stop the opposition totem Billy Vunipola a number of times.
The No.8 is his side’s premier ball
carrier and he had to be halted if Wales were to win. Jones made a point of seeing that was the case. Others followed his lead.
Leadership by example is what he’s about, but the law graduate is also an educated man who gets on the right side of referees and commands the respect of team-mates.
In his column for the BBC, Matt Dawson wrote this week: “I hear the England players and it is all cajoling and tapping people on the bum, telling them it is OK when they have just given away their 13th penalty.
“Then you look at Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones when something does not go right – he has this steely look about him.
“I was co-commentating with Wales fly-half Rhys Patchell and he called it the ‘Alun Wyn stare.’ Everybody knows if you make a mistake and he gives you one of those looks, you are never going to do it again.
“That does not exist within this England team. They are all best mates and loving every minute of being part of the England camp, but there is no friction.” Friction is in Jones’ DNA.
He can be contrary and feisty at times, because he isn’t in the game to win popularity contests.
But the man cares – he truly does.
Naming him in his team of the week, Will Greenwood wrote in The Telegraph: “The bigger the game, the better the performance from Alun Wyn Jones. He was superb against England and at one point I even thought he was refereeing the game as well as playing in it!”
His coach at the Ospreys, Toby Booth, is in no doubt about what he contributes as a skipper. Asked whether the Lions’ captaincy debate had now been put to bed, Booth said: “Last week’s Wales-England game was a good example (of what Jones brings).
“In the pressurised environment of international rugby, whether with the Lions or wherever, you want people who can deliver and at different levels – leadership, leading by example, performance.
“Alun Wyn Jones is someone who delivers on all of those fronts consistently and has done for a very long time.”
Jones’ contract with the Ospreys and the Welsh Rugby Union is due to end at the close of the season and the hope will be that the renewal process will prove smooth and quick.
“He wants to get the Six Nations out of the way,” said Booth. “I’m sure those conversations are being had, essentially with Wales. We’re obviously inputting into that. We’ll see after the Six Nations where that goes.
“He’s a quality player and a quality individual we’re very proud to see him perform as well as he does for Wales.
“And he’s desperate to play some more for the Ospreys as well.
“So it’s a win-win for everybody.” If the Lions make him captain, it will be win-win for them, too.