Sport Rugby Union
Alun Wyn Jones tells
Kate Rowan how having
children has changed his
outlook on life and rugby
A
lun Wyn Jones is used
to doing the dirty
work in the second
row, so changing
nappies does not
particularly seem tofaze the Wales captain.
Jones will become the most
capped Welshman of all time if he
plays this weekend against
England at Twickenham, once
Lions Tests are taken into account,
and there is without doubt a touch
of the old school about him in his
approach to his work on the field.
But there is another side, too, one
he showed when taking to
Instagram after his first daughter,
Mali, was born four years ago to
model his “new scrum cap” – a
nappy.
Being the wily player he is, there
was a method to his madness.
“Have you ever tried to change a
nappy when there is poo
everywhere?” he guffaws. “That is
tour with Wales – but he sees no
correlation between the anxiety an
expectant father feels compared
with a rugby player awaiting news
of whether he has made a World
Cup squad. Warren Gatland names
his on Sept 2.
“There is no comparison,” he
says. “Let’s be honest, if something
goes wrong during a pregnancy,
there are a couple of lives at risk.
Rugby is dangerous sometimes,
but life is more precious than we
like to think sometimes and rugby
is just a game.
“Whereas bringing a life into the
world and looking after my wife is
far more important.”
This perspective seems to have‘As a father I am more aware of other
ng
his
gby
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neer,
ohere
a
at is
the moment I was in there. You
have to get the distraction level up.
I was trying to keep her distracted
to get the nappy off and the other
one on, that is purely what it
was. It was one of those
moments where I
thought, ‘Screw it, I
am going to share
i t ’.”
The 33-year-
old is likely to
captain Wales at
the World Cup in
Japan, having led Warren
Gatland’s men to Grand
Slam glory this year. It would
seem that Mali and one-year-
old Efa could be the secret to
his success as captain, as he
reveals becoming a father
has made him more
empathetic and curious
about his team-mates’
lives outside rugby.
“When I was a young
professional, I was quite
selfish and self-focused.
You care for yourself
because you ultimately
want to achieve your goals,”
he admits.
“When you get a bit of age and
experience, your vision broadens
and then even more when kidscome along, everything
completely changes. When Mali
came along it was more than a
shock to the system, it was a
sobering dose of reality to realise
that I have responsibility that is
greater than myself.
“Becoming a father has made me
more aware in rugby and made me
realise that everyone is a son,
uncle, dad or brother. It has made
me think about how everyone
experiences bereavement, birth,
good times and bad times.
Everybody has a story, if you
scratch the surface a little bit; it
helps you understand why
somebody might not be
performing well. It is nice then to
find out when someone has some
positive news.
“Having children has definitely
made me want to find out more
about the people I play with, and it
has made me think a bit more
about my team-mates as people
and their families. I want people to
know about my family and it is
good to share any questions or
qualms with the other guys.”
Jones is relentlessly self-critical,
whether it is his performances on
the field or his conduct off it. He
makes a point of admonishing
himself whenever he misses
birthdays or his children’s firsts,
and while he gives much of the
credit for his happy home life to
his wife Anwen – who is taking a
break from her job as a lecturer at
Cardiff Metropolitan University,Proud dad: Alun
Wyn Jones with
daughter Efa;
(left) donning his
new ‘scrum cap’
with Maliwhere she teaches physiology and
health – he is a determinedly
progressive thinker.
“There are a lot more Barbie
dolls and pink about the place, but
real men wear pink, so that’s OK,”
he laughs.
That said, he is not one to buy
into the concept of modern
masculinity. “I don’t think you
need to talk about modern
masculinity in inverted commas.
People have been having babies for
thousands of years,” he says.
“There are a lot of guys in the
squad with children of similar
ages, so there are a lot of things to
talk about. Being a parent in a
team sport, you do have that forum
where you do talk about first days
of school, measles and chickenpox.
Those are the simplistic parenting
conversations that are had. It is
easy to make child care and
parenting complex.”
Jones can draw comparisons
between parenting and the rugby
dressing room – notably his
daughter Mali’s “no-holds-barred”
conversations about her bathroom
habits via FaceTime when he is onEXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
16 *** Wednesday 7 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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