Adam Mathias Jones (born 12 January 1980) is a Welsh former professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who played as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. He captained the Wales Under-19 team and earned his first caps for the Wales senior team as a replacement against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the

2006 Six Nations Championship The 2006 Six Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this ...

. He began his career with

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History T ...

before a spell in England with Saracens and Harlequins, before returning to Wales with Cardiff RFC. At the start of the Welsh regional era, he signed for the

Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

and played for them for four seasons, before a seven-year spell with the Newport Gwent Dragons. He also made appearances for

Llandovery RFC Llandovery RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Llanymddyfri) is a Welsh rugby union club based in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The club is an inaugural member of the Welsh Rugby Union, currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and is a feeder club f ...

Carmarthen Quins RFC Carmarthen Quins Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cwins Caerfyrddin) are one of two Welsh rugby union clubs based in Carmarthen in West Wales, the other being Carmarthen Athletic. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and are a ...

Cross Keys RFC Cross Keys RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pont-y-Cymer) is a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Crosskeys. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union, and is a feeder club for the Dragons regional team. History The club achieved first c ...

and Newport RFC.

Career

Born in Swansea, he began his professional career with

, making just two appearances towards the end of the 1998–99 season, before a move to Saracens ahead of the 1999–2000 season. He made four appearances for Saracens, all as a substitute, and scored his first professional try for the club in that time. The following season he moved across London to Harlequins, and made 10 appearances during the 2000–01 season. After two years in England, he returned to Wales with Cardiff RFC, where he became a regular starter over two years there. In 2003, he joined the newly formed

regional side. In four seasons with the Scarlets, he made over 100 appearances, scoring just one try in a friendly match against a select XV made up of players from the Scarlets' Welsh Premiership affiliate clubs. While playing for the Scarlets, he also made appearances in the Premiership for Llandovery and Carmarthen Quins. After being called up as an injury replacement for an uncapped match against the French Barbarians in 2000, Jones travelled with a developmental Wales team for a tour of Canada. He received his first full call-up to the Wales senior team in January 2006. After being omitted from coach

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...

's initial squad for the

, Jones was called up on 24 January as cover for Jonathan Thomas, who had suffered a hamstring injury while playing for the Ospreys. He was named on the bench for the opening game against England, coming on as a temporary blood replacement for Ian Gough before permanently entering the game for the last 15 minutes. He retained his place on the bench the following week against Scotland, coming on for

Robert Sidoli Roberto Andrew "Rob" Sidoli (born 21 June 1979), also known as Robert Sidoli, is a former Welsh international rugby union player. He has won 42 caps for Wales as a lock forward. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, he played for his school, Bishop Hedley H ...

for the last two minutes of the game. Thomas' return from injury saw him take Jones' place on the bench for the last three games of the Six Nations, and allowed Jones to be released from the Wales squad for the Scarlets'

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

semi-final against Bath on 4 March 2006. He started that game as the Scarlets won 27–26, and also started in the final, which they lost 26–10 to

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

. In June 2007, Jones signed for the Newport Gwent Dragons as a replacement for the departing Ian Gough. He made his competitive debut against his former side on 1 September 2007. He extended his contract with the Dragons in 2009. Jones retired from professional rugby in March 2014. At the time of his retirement, he had made the most total appearances in the history of Welsh regional rugby.

References

External links

Dragons profileWRU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Adam 1980 births Living people Rugby union players from Swansea Welsh rugby union players Rugby union locks Swansea RFC players Saracens F.C. players Harlequin F.C. players Cardiff RFC players Scarlets players Llandovery RFC players Carmarthen Quins RFC players Dragons RFC players Cross Keys RFC players Newport RFC players Wales international rugby union players