Battling Dan has proved his worth to Pivac

DAN Jones has gone from the Llanelli wilderness to one of the Scarlets’ key men.

When Wayne Pivac’s side were crowned Guinness PRO12 champions last year, stand-off Jones was nowhere to be seen as the celebrations started.

Despite figuring heavily for most of last season, the 22-year-old paid the price for a below-par performance in a 45-9 thrashing away to Leinster.

He was not seen for the remainder of the campaign, but has returned with a bang to become a key man for Pivac, especially with the Scarlets hit by Six Nations call-ups.

“Of course it was tough to miss the final because I wanted to be part of that winning team,” said Jones.

“Me and Wayne spoke during that period, but it was frustrating because I want to be involved in those games. But with Wayne speaking to me, I knew what I needed to improve.

“It was about getting the team prepared as best as we could in training and if I trained well, I was hoping to get the nod on the bench. It was difficult to take, but it’s part of the game. I came back in at the start of the season, knuckled down, and kept on improving to get back in the team.”

This term Jones has fought his way back into the Scarlets’ starting XV, even when Pivac has had a full squad to choose from.

He played a starring role in the stunning European victories over Bath and Toulon and said: “It was nice to be selected for those big games.

“To have the nod at 10 and play with the some of the boys we have here was massive and I’m thankful to Wayne for that opportunity. I hadn’t played against Toulon before, so it was something different for me.

“Hopefully it will be the same again for the quarterfinal.”

The Scarlets face La Rochelle in the Champions Cup last eight. Jones hopes he can keep learning under the guidance of Scarlets backs coach and namesake Stephen.

“Stephen has been there and done it,” he said. “He’s a massive influence on me and the whole back line.”