McCaw’s record in Alun Wyn’s sights as campaign kicks off
THERE is as much chance of Alun Wyn Jones looking too far ahead in rugby as there is of Lord Lucan, Elvis and the abominable snowman packing down in Wales’ back row for the game with Italy in Cardiff on Saturday – residency qualifications permitting.
For the avoidance of doubt, neither event is going to happen.
Near misses happen in sport, with those involved left agonisingly short of where they wanted to go. Those who last longest know there is merit in the ancient cliche of taking things one step at a time.
Even so, Jones is within clear sight of Richie McCaw’s world record for appearances in Test rugby.
McCaw played 148 times for New Zealand, while his closest pursuer has featured in 143 Tests – 134 for Wales and nine for the Lions – meaning he will equal the great All Black’s mark if he features in every round of this year’s Six Nations.
He could go beyond it in the away Test with Japan on June 27.
If he sits that out, he potentially has two more games on Wales’ summer tour to enjoy a slice of history, with Tests against New Zealand lined up on July 4 in Auckland and on July 11 in Wellington.
On that trip, he could even become the first man to play in 150 Tests, an extraordinary achievement for anyone, let alone someone whose professional life involves much jumping, pushing, shoving, clattering, carrying and tackling in the engine room of a pack. It is physical, relentless work and to say injuries can happen is to deal in understatement on a serious scale.
But Jones has ploughed on, inexorably passing landmark after landmark. It is endurance on an astonishing scale.
Perhaps only those who have played Test rugby can fully appreciate the 34-year-old’s staying power.
It isn’t just the playing. The training can also be brutal, with Danny Care reporting only this week how
“some lads may crawl off the pitch” in England’s pre-Six Nations camp, after earlier predicting a few might break down.
Jones has done all that training with Wales, including the ice chambers in Poland, and kept coming back for more.
His achievements are celebrated by those who broke records themselves, with Neil Jenkins, the first man to achieve 1,000 points in Test rugby, saying during the World Cup: “He has always wanted to be the best and strive to be the best, and over a long period he has achieved that.”
Jenkins is right that Jones has used his experience and know-how to raise his game to new heights in recent years.
It’s been remarkable to see because he’s now a father of two daughters, with matters other than rugby to focus on.
Personal milestones still appear to mean little to this complex man whose private persona is different from the straight and uncompromising face he so often presents to the public.
But if, or perhaps when, he does draw level and then overtake McCaw and forge on further still, perhaps even he’ll take five minutes to reflect on the magnitude of his achievement.
Because to play one game of Test rugby is something special. To figure in 150 would be within the realms of the phenomenal.