Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SUNDAY WALES v SOUTH AFRICA COLOSSUS
‘There are people who are destined to pick up the World Cup. Look at Alun Wyn Jones. I really believe he can do it’ – Jake White
IF the identikit image of a World Cup-winning captain is Martin Johnson, there is one outstanding candidate from the remaining cast list at Japan 2019.
Not All Blacks star Kieran Read or South Africa’s hugely impressive ambassador assassin Siya Kolisi.
Not even Owen Farrell, Johnson’s heir apparent in bristling hostility.
No, the nearest equivalent has to be Wales’s Alun Wyn Jones. Like Johnson, a second row colossus with a tireless drive and endlessly reassuring presence.
Jonny Wilkinson used to refer to ex-england skipper Johnson as his comfort blanket on the field. To Wales, Jones performs the same function.
“There are people who are destined to pick up the
World Cup.” said South Africa’s 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White.
“You look at Mccaw, Pienaar and Eales. Now you look at Alun Wyn Jones. I really believe he can do it,”
When he leads Wales out against the Springboks in Yokohama on
Sunday, Jones, 34, will draw level with
Sergio Parisse as the northern hemisphere’s mostcapped player.
It was back in 2006 he made his debut, as a flanker, against Argentina in Puerto Madryn after being promoted from Wales Under-21s on the recommendation of Neil Jenkins, now part of Warren Gatland’s management team. “You could see then he was a pretty special player,” said Jenkins.
“I probably didn’t think he was going to be as special as he
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actually is but he has always wanted to be and strived to be the best and he’s achieved that. Wales have had some incredible rugby players and he is up there as one of the best – if not the best.
“I don’t know a 99 per cent Alun Wyn Jones, I only know a 100 per cent one. It’s 100 or nothing, plain and simple.”
Gatland once complained about Jones’ inclination to start training ground fights. Fatherhood has softened him, he claims – his two daughters Mali, 4,and Efa, 18 months, are headed for Japan with his wife Anwen for the semi-final – but the pointed edges are still there.
Working with Jones is not straightforward. “Mondays are the most interesting, those are the days when he is most grumpy,” added Jenkins. “But that’s Alun Wyn.
“He demands the best from himself and from people around him.
“That shows in our environment and the way the boys go about their business. They have got a leader they can look up to.”
The man to lift the Webb Ellis Cup?
Time will tell, but
Wales would surely not swap their captain for anyone else.
Australia fly-half.
(38) former England, QPR, Chelsea and Manchester City winger.