TAKING THE LEAP
DORAN JONES went down the academic
route, too, but he twinned his medicinal
chemistry degree at Trinity College with
time at Leinster. And while local kids
could live at home and pocket around
€3,600 a year, the prop toiled to get
by on such a meagre starter wage.
He jokes about how coaches couldn’t
understand why he couldn’t gain weight
- before discovering he was running
rickshaws at night to make extra cash.
But things got harder when his time at
uni, and the associated bursary, ended.
He tried to talk coach Michael Cheika
into investing in him, explaining that he
could not afford to live in expensive
Dublin. “What I hadn’t told him was that
I’d run out of money and the night before
I had to go down the local supermarket
and steal my tea,” he reveals. “I was
there on my own, no cash, so I ran off
with a steak and a couple of spuds.”
In the end the young prop didn’t stay
in Dublin and signed with London Welsh
to start over. Finding opportunities can
be tough all over the world. There are
those who love the game and love
adventure, but you have to be aware of
other elements that pull careers along.
Doran Jones says: “I think there is a
gig economy in rugby and what I’ve
found sampling National One life (with
Rosslyn Park) – going all the way
through and coming out the other end
- you see the lads who were probably
talented enough to have had a good
career in rugby, but they decide to
follow professions and earn whatever
they can in the day job, just training
Tuesdays and Thursdays and paying
the bills. I have a far greater respect
for that now than I maybe did before.
“In hindsight it’s a very sensible play
because in rugby, even if you make
international grade or get to somewhere
where you earn decent cash, unless
you’re an absolute superstar you’ve
still got to find a career (afterwards).”There is another interesting subplot
within the journeyman narrative. Yes, we
must be acutely aware that life can be
tough for many players and we must
look after athletes lower down the pro
ladder better. And yes, opportunities are
sparse in some famous rugby nations.
But you can also celebrate the magical
careers borne out of such conditions.
He turns 45 in August but Ma’ama
Molitika will potentially feature for
Ampthill in the English Championship
next season. Having left Tonga for New
Zealand at 14 and played NPC there,
then in Wales, England, Italy and Japan,
the veteran player-coach is still up for it.
He says: “I’ll probably play, yes, but it
will definitely be my last season! If I can
get through to Christmas, great. We will
go week by week and it’s a tough league,
with a lot of travelling, but Ampthill’s a
good little club: a good set-up, good
bunch of boys, good group of people.
“I’m still enjoying it. I wouldn’t be
commuting to England every week (from
Barry, Wales) and running around if I
didn’t feel able to compete at that level
and enjoy it. Obviously the money’s not
the same as the Premiership, but the
money does help to pay the bills. It helps
with my family and for the enjoyment.”Special Report
Seeing the world
SA’s JP Pietersen has
worked in four countriesStill powering on
Ma’ama Molitika
back in 2008“I’d run out of money and the
night before I had to go down the
supermarket and steal my tea”