Derwyn Jones (born 14 November 1970, in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

) is a former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and Welsh international. He is the tallest Welsh player to be capped at 6 ft 10 inches tall, and weighed over 20 stone at his peak.

Career

Jones studied

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. Jones made his international debut on Saturday, 26 November 1994 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

aged 24 where Wales lost 20–12. He went on to play in 17 of the next 19 Internationals, earning nineteen caps for Wales. After slapping

Kobus Wiese Jakobus Johannes Wiese (born 16 May 1964) is a former South African rugby union player who played at Lock (rugby union), lock for the South Africa national rugby union team between 1993 and 1996. He was a specialist number 2 jumper in the line ...

in the face, he was notably knocked unconscious by Wiese at the beginning of a match against South Africa at

Ellis Park Stadium Ellis Park Stadium (known as Emirates Airline Park for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union and association football stadium in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was won by th ...

in 1995. Wiese was fined ZAR 50,000 and given a three-match ban. At club level Jones won the

SWALEC Cup The WRU Challenge Cup (currently known as the WRU Premiership Cup, formally called the Welsh Rugby Union Challenge Cup, is Wales' premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby union competition and is organised by the Welsh Rugby Union. A ...

twice in 1994 and 1997 and also played in the first

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

final with Cardiff in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Since retiring from active play, Jones has opened his own agency company, which represents over fifty elite rugby players across Europe.

Welsh International Record

*1994 v South Africa (Cardiff) L 20-12 *1995 v France (Paris) L 21-9 (FN) *1995 v England (Cardiff) L 23-9 (FN) *1995 v Scotland (Murrayfield) L 26-13 (FN) *1995 v Japan (Bloemfontein) W 57-10 (World Cup) *1995 v New Zealand (Johannesburg) L 34-9 (World Cup) *1995 v Ireland (Johannesburg) L 24-23 (World Cup) *1995 v South Africa (Johannesburg) L 40-11 *1995 v Fiji (Cardiff) W 19-15 *1996 v Italy (Rome) W 31-26 *1996 v England (Twickenham) L 21-15 (FN) *1996 v Scotland (Cardiff) L 16-14 (FN) *1996 v Ireland (Dublin) L 30-17 (FN) *1996 v France (Cardiff) W 16-15 (FN) *1996 v Australia (Brisbane) L 56-25 *1996 v Australia (Sydney) L 42-3 *1996 v Barbarians (Cardiff) W 31-10 *1996 v Italy (Rome) W 31-22 *1996 v Australia (Cardiff) L 28-19

References

External links

*http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=1936 *https://web.archive.org/web/20061030052150/http://www.ospreysrugby.com/ospreys_news_view.php?news_id=340 1970 births Living people Loughborough Students RUFC players People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera Rugby union players from Carmarthen Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union locks 1995 Rugby World Cup players {{wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub