Mark Anthony Jones (born 7 November 1979 in

Builth Wells Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

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 ...

coach and former player who played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

for the

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

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Since making his international debut for

, he won 47 caps and scored 13 tries. He is currently a coach at

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

sides

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

Early life

As a youngster, as well as playing rugby, Jones was also a sprinter and once competed against future World Junior Athletics champion

Christian Malcolm Christian Sean Malcolm (born 3 June 1979) is a retired Welsh track and field athlete who specialised in the 200 metres. In 2020 he was appointed Head Coach of the British Athletics Olympic Programme. Early life Malcolm was born and was brough ...

in a

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

final; Jones said his performance against Malcolm was the reason he gave up athletics for a career in rugby. He began his domestic career at Builth Wells Youth before joining the senior side. He was signed by Llandovery from Builth and in his first season of senior rugby was the highest try scorer in the Welsh League. Jones joined Llanelli in 1997 and remained at the club until his retirement in 2010. Jones has represented Wales at U18, U19 and U20 levels and made his first team debut for Wales as a replacement against England in the 2001 Lloyds TSB Six Nations.

Career

2005–2006 was a great season for Jones, as he won six international caps and scored three tries. This was after consecutive knee injuries, and major reconstructive surgery, saw him ruled out of the international arena since the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Jones scored seven tries for the Scarlets during the 2006–2007 season, three of which came in the region's Heineken Cup endeavour, including one in the semi-final loss to the Leicester Tigers. Jones appeared for Wales in the RBS 2007 Six Nations against Scotland, Italy and in the sole victory over England. In June, Jones was named in Gareth Jenkins's 41-man preliminary Rugby World Cup 2007 summer training squad after being rested from the two Test tour to Australia. Jones made the final 30-man cut for the RWC squad in August and played in Wales's Invesco Perpetual Summer Series, scoring a try against Argentina. Jones appeared for Wales in the Rugby World Cup in Pool matches against Canada and Australia. He also played in the final Pool B encounter, scoring a try in Wales's defeat at the hands of the Fijians. In November 2007 Jones was selected by Caretaker Coach Nigel Davies in the line-up to face world champions South Africa in the Prince William Cup at the Millennium Stadium. New Wales head coach Warren Gatland included Jones in his Grand Slam winning 2008 RBS Six Nations squad. He played in four matches, against England, Italy, Ireland and France, and almost scored a try for his country in the latter championship decider against France, being stopped just short of the line after a superb break. In July 2009, it was announced that Jones was to be handed the

captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule a ...

for the

' 2009–10 season. Jones was forced to retire through injury in August 2010. Jones who took over from Simon Easterby as captain the previous season, received final confirmation from medics that his playing days are over. The news and decision to retire had been a difficult one for him, as he felt he still had plenty to give as a player both with his region and for Wales. Jones enjoyed 12 seasons with the Scarlets and was granted a testimonial year by his region during the last year. A career Scarlet, Jones played 164 times for his region and scored 425 points (85 tries). He played his first Scarlets game against Saracens on 26 August 1998. He won a total of 47 caps for Wales, scoring 13 tries for his country and was part of the Grand Slam winning team in 2008.

Coaching career

Following his retirement, Jones was announced as a skills coach for the Scarlets region on a two-year contract. This saw him coach skills both at first-team level and with a wider responsibility within the Premiership teams, Academy and age-grade pathways for the region. In 2012 he joined Wales set up, supporting

Rob Howley Robert Howley (born 13 October 1970) is a Welsh former rugby union player and coach. As a player, he won 59 caps for Wales, 22 of them as captain. He was part of the Wales coaching team for many years. He is currently a coaching consultant for th ...

at the 2012 autumn internationals. In 2013 he became interim attack coach during the Six Nations Championship. He also accompanied Robin McBryde on the 2013 tour of Japan. In 2015 he became head coach of the Rotherham Titans in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, taking over from

Lee Blackett Lee Blackett (born 21 November 1982 in Chester, Cheshire, United Kingdom) is an English former rugby union footballer. Educated at King Edward VII and Queen Mary School in Lytham, he played some of his earlier rugby at Fylde Rugby Club. His usu ...

. He departed in 2016, with Titans chairman Nick Cragg describing Jones as "a quality individual for whom we have the greatest respect" but stating that "results over the last three months have not been what we would have wished them to be and both parties have agreed that now is the time for change". Jones took over as head coach of Colwyn Bay-based side RGC 1404 in 2016 as they moved into the Welsh Premier Division for that season. He led the side into a spell of exciting rugby, with commentators praising the Gogs' "sizzling, attacking style" which led to their victory in the Welsh National Cup in 2017. Jones was critical of WRU plans in 2017 to include regional A and under 23 sides in the new Celtic Cup, stating that it devalued Welsh club rugby and threatened the existence of semi-professional teams. After three years at Eirias Stadium, Jones stood down as head coach of RGC, stating that the travel between his home town of Neath and Colwyn Bay was becoming too difficult for his family. He described one occasion where he travelled 800 miles in one weekend between work, attending his son's football game, and returning home to Neath. He told WalesOnline that he would continue to seek a coaching role, ideally at a PRO14 Welsh regional side. He described his preferred coaching style as "working with players with a tracksuit on", but said his time in Colwyn Bay had particularly helped him develop as an off-field coach. During the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

, Jones was offered a role coaching the Namibia national rugby union team in Japan, "working closely with the Namibia backs both prior and during the competition". He was joined by fellow ex-Wales players

Dale McIntosh Dale Lynsey Manawa "Chief" McIntosh (born 23 November 1969) is a former Wales international rugby union player and former rugby union coach. He was born in Tūrangi, New Zealand. Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Pontypridd. ...

and

Wayne Proctor Wayne Thomas Proctor (12 June 1972) is a former Wales international rugby union footballer, who was a winger/full-back for Wales, Llanelli RFC and subsequently the Llanelli Scarlets. A former Welsh schools international athlete, Proctor repre ...

. In January 2020 Jones surprised rugby pundits when he announced he was moving to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

and joining the coaching setup at the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

side

on a two-year deal. Jones will serve as defence coach under head coach Scott Robertson and be running the attack and the backs with Canterbury, moving to New Zealand in 2020 after spending Christmas in Wales. In his interview upon joining the side, he described the South Island team as "the best rugby organisation in the world".

Early life

Career

Coaching career

References

External links