12 kilograms heavier than he is now, while at things so that he can answer a lot of It was enjoyable, a good laugh with some really
his muscle mass is as big as it has ever been,” people.” good characters there. It was a professional
reveals Ospreys forward coach Jonathan club but there was also a big amateur ethos.
Humphreys. It got Jones used to receiving criticism early
in his career. While it is now water under the “Having not gone through the schools and
“He has got the bit between his teeth and bridge, Hansen is still a name guaranteed to youth it was a good place to start playing.
started believing he actually is an extremely get a reaction. Now there is a lot more money in it,
good tighthead, the confidence in the rest of computers and so on, in those days we would
his game comes from the fact that he does his “I was gutted really, a bit bitter at the just have a video and it might not work.”
job extremely well. I am loving watching him time,” he admitted. “As a young kid it was
play at the moment. disappointing. There was no resentment The changed approach has certainly turned
towards Steve, but if I had been older I would Jones into a different proposition at the
“His work rate is huge, which you would not have confronted him and asked about it. highest level.
have said about Adam a few years ago, and the
fact he made the most tackles of anyone in the “he has got the bit between “I feel now I am growing into the position.
team against France speaks volumes. I am miles better than I was even in 2005,
his teeth - i am loving technically and physically. Props come into
“It has been a tough road. He has been their prime as they get older and that seems
dropped by Wales, dropped by the Ospreys watching him play at the to be the case for myself and Gethin Jenkins,”
sometimes in the past, but now you would he said.
say his name is one of the no-brainers on the moment.”
teamsheet – Adam plays and that is that. “There is a lifestyle change too, cut out the
“I do not think it helped me in the long run. A beer and look after yourself a bit better, as
“it is a tribute to how far he has come that a lot of people have said it did, but I do not think well as thinking about the game and what I
few months ago he would have been a rank so. I was not given specific targets, he just did need to do.
outsider for the Lions, but if you go on the Six not think I would last long enough and it was
Nations then Adam should be picked.” his decision. “The food is in the packets, which makes it
easier. It is chicken and bean sprouts, that type
Humphreys had an insight to the Steve “It got me used to the criticism early so that of thing. Healthy food rather than a Chinese,
Hansen regime where Jones struggled to get was not too bad and it does not hurt any some of it is a bit tough to swallow but it is
a foothold, the hooker returning from Bath more, it is all in the past now. not too bad.
towards the end of the career to captain
Wales once again. “It is different now with the young kids coming “i wish we could have some chinese
in with plenty of confidence. I was a bit shy takeaways, but it is a lot different to that and it
“Adam was on the fringes of the squad when and just kept my head down.” is going in the right direction at the moment.
I came back under Steve Hansen. At the time
we were moving Gethin Jenkins over to the Jones had appeared on the scene through “I am trying to become more of a leader in the
tighthead,” he remembered. Neath, rather than through the Welsh rugby squad. I have 50 plus caps now so you have to
system, with weight again the issue. get yourself out there.”
“Before the Ireland game I looked across at
Adam and asked ‘what about that kid over “I did not get picked in any of the Wales Welsh rugby is very different and few sum up
there?’ Hansen said he can scrummage, but schools or youth teams, I was a lot bigger those improvements better than Adam Jones.
still went with moving Gethin across. and fatter than everyone else. I had a trial With Wales looking to bounce back from this
for Wales Youth but was not fit enough, year’s Six Nations and the Lions round the
“Steve had a way of doing things, whether maybe that should have given me a kick up the corner, the Chinese takeaways will have
it was right or wrong, but what backside but it did not,” he said. to wait a while longer.
Adam has done is go
away and work “then i went from abercrave to have a trial
for neath under 21’s when i was 19 and that
went all right. Then Lyn Jones offered me a
development contract with Neath and they
gave me a chance.
“It was massively different then. We
used to train and be home by
12 every day.
sportingwales
issue6twothousand&nine
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