Record-breaker Jones focuses on World Cup glory
Only pool decider with Australia matters for the Wales captain on eve of winning his 130th cap
in Tokyo Alun Wyn Jones might not strike you as the type of man who cries too often but, as the anthems ring out ahead of Wales’s crucial game with Australia tomorrow, you would forgive him if the emotion proves too much.
When he leads his side into battle at Tokyo Stadium, Jones will become Wales’s most-capped player – a landmark he greets with an insistence that the focus remains entirely on the task at hand.
But even though he gives the impression that he would prefer trying to circumvent Tokyo’s expansive subway system without a map than talking about his achievement, the mask briefly slipped yesterday.
“On a personal level, it is nice for myself and my family,” he admitted. “But there is a much bigger picture, which is the match. I don’t think anybody is going to be worried about the numbers on the stats sheets. My focus is the game.”
Jones will make his 130th appearance – in a match that will decide who wins Pool D – overtaking former prop Gethin Jenkins. Wales’s other centurions are Stephen Jones, Gareth Thomas and Martyn Williams.
No Wales player has made more Test starts (118) or won more Tests (65) than their current captain, and no lock has scored more tries (nine) than the giant that Wales have turned to for inspiration over the years.
Others are more willing to explain what Jones has done, and continues to do, for his country.
“People who get to the top have a drive to want to be successful and he’s definitely done that,” head coach Warren Gatland said. “To become Wales’s record Test player with 130 caps is special. Hopefully there are many more to come.”
Jones, 34, made his debut in 2006 at blindside flanker against Argentina in Patagonia. His first appearance as a lock came against New Zealand in autumn that year. He won a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2008 and was made captain against Italy in the 2009 championship, becoming the youngest forward to captain Wales since 1934.
‘It baffles me how he is still going – not just physically but mentally as well’
Further Six Nations titles followed in 2012 and 2013 and he regained the captaincy, after stints in charge by Ryan Jones and Sam Warburton, in 2017. He also led the British and Irish Lions in the final Test in Australia in 2013.
A Six Nations Grand Slam triumph this year has merely whetted Jones’s appetite further and teammate Liam Williams says it is this longevity which makes him so extraordinary.
“I read that he’s been playing for Wales for 13 years. It’s incredible,” the full-back said. “I’ve been here for seven years and feel like I’ve been here for ages and it’s almost double my time.
“He’s a great bloke and leads from the front. He speaks well and does his talking on the pitch as well. He’s a leader and I’m sure it will be a great occasion for him on Sunday. He seems calm at the moment.”
Gatland elaborated on how Jones’s actions speak louder than his words. “He doesn’t say a lot, he just leads from the front at training and matches and sets a great example for the senior players, but in particular the younger players. We’re very lucky to have him in the team and captaining the side.”
There is no doubting Jones’s hunger to succeed. Captaincy has brought a maturity and responsibility which has reduced the frequency of training ground bust-ups.
“He’s a great competitor,” Gatland said. “Since he’s been captain, we don’t have as many fights at training because he used to start most of them! That’s how competitive he was.”
Williams has managed to avoid any of those confrontations with Jones on the training field. “He doesn’t unleash the fury, not on me anyway. He’s the skipper, he can do what he wants!”
There is no metric for sheer force of will but Jones would surely top it. His former captain, the recently retired Warburton, believes it is Jones’s durability that sets him apart, particularly now in his mid-30s.
“It baffles me how he is still going – not just physically but mentally as well,” Warburton said. “The physical toll on players is well documented but to be able to do what he has done, however many times he has done it, it’s pretty much unheard of. To keep playing consistently at that top level is amazing.”
Jones might have defied a knee injury to see out Wales’s Grand Slam triumph over Ireland in March but long-term injury lay-offs have been rare.
Wales have several key figures – Williams, Ken Owens, Dan Biggar, Jonathan Davies – and yet no one is more pivotal when it comes to success in Japan than the Swanseaborn lock, capable of dragging teams to victory on his own.
“To go to the World Cup and have the most experienced coach in Warren Gatland and most experienced captain has probably never happened to Wales,” Warburton said. “We should feel very lucky and grateful that we have got those two.”