the radio presenter behind the stood up, got involved prominently in the against Ireland Ospreys colleague Alan Wyn
scenes at the Millennium stadium loose and played a key role in dragging his side Jones was full of praise for namesake Adam
was excited at finding named back into the game. pointing out that while there were various
cardboard food boxes, it looked as elements of the Wales game which had not
though the bigger Welsh forwards For those used to seeing Jones do his core job functioned, the scrum had not been one of
were closet chinese takeaway well, but be limited elsewhere, it was a pivotal them with Adam Jones laying the platform.
fans. moment.
It is all a far cry from the time coming up
But far from ordering sneaky deliveries to the Jones was also Wales’s top tackler in the through the ranks when he was overlooked at
home of Welsh rugby, the truth is of a new cauldron of Paris this season, as well as being schools and youth level, as he puts it himself,
professionalism sweeping through the Wales right up there in the charts away to Scotland – for being too fat.
set-up which is helping to make someone like heady heights in lists normally full of back row,
Adam Jones a world class player. centres and Alan Wyn Jones. then under steve hansen he was the impact
player used at the beginning, which meant
Rather than an example of the players after the being taken off the pitch after half an hour as
indulging, it is a case of leaving nothing to defeat regularly as clockwork, the rugby equivalent
chance. The boxes contained set servings of a public flogging for not being fit enough.
of healthy meals, such as chicken and bean
sprouts – the joke within the squad Changing that policy, keeping Jones on the
is that the cardboard is arguably the pitch and the Welsh scrum intact, was a key
tastiest bit. part of Wales winning the Grand Slam under
Mike Ruddock in 2005, but it is this season
For the last few years Jones has that the prop has really come into his own.
been the player Wales could
not do without because of his “He has changed
strong scrummaging, despite markedly over a
a perceived lack of top level relatively short
fitness. However in the last period of time. 12
few months he has become months ago he was
the super-fit player Wales
would not want to do
without full stop.
the transformation is
perfectly timed with a
Lions tour approaching in
the summer – suddenly the
Ospreys anchor is a realistic
contender.
Three games stand out. First
against Cardiff Blues at the
Arms Park over Christmas,
Jones was one of the dominant
forces as the Ospreys came
from behind to win with the
scrum power crucial.
Then in the first half of the
Heineken Cup clash in
Perpignan, when some
of the most reliable
Ospreys players
were mis-firing,
the prop
rugby
sportingwales
issue6twothousand&nine
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