By Paul Eddison
Hannah Jones was on the verge of walking away from international rugby before being convinced by her club coach and new national boss to stay on as Wales captain.
The outside centre first captained Wales in 2021 but has admitted that recent off-field distractions made her question whether she wanted to continue playing.
Jones found herself caught in the middle of a dispute between the Welsh Rugby Union and the Wales women’s national team last season over contracts.
The Telegraph reported that during contract negotiations, players were told that if these were not signed, the team would forfeit their place in WXV2 and therefore the 2025 World Cup.
When the extent of the distress caused was revealed, the WRU apologised to the players involved.
And having decided to continue playing international rugby with her Gloucester–Hartpury coach Sean Lynn taking over in the top job, Jones has warned that the players should never find themselves in that position again.
Coming back as captain
She said: “Lynny asked me to be captain after one of the Gloucester training sessions. I went home and I thought about it because it had been a tough year.
“I thought, ‘Is this the right time for someone new?’ The thing for me was who was coming in next, who was going to be my next coach and career-wise, whether I was going to continue to play or whether I was going to take some time back to think about playing national rugby.
“Once they’d announced Lynny, I thought, I can do this. I spoke with my husband, and I feel I have got more to give.
“I still love the game, but the stress of the contracts and what we’d been through as a squad was disgraceful and disappointing. They have apologised and have appointed Belinda Moore (as head of women’s rugby). Hopefully, what the players went through will never happen again.”
Jones will lead Wales into the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, as they look to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish.
That came after a hugely successful 2023 when they finished third, before coming back down to earth.
And Jones explained just how difficult that period was for both her and the rest of the team.
Difficult Times
She said: “It was very emotionally distressing. I deal with stress and pressure quite well, but a lot of my players were becoming unwell physically and mentally. When I saw my players going through that it’s a huge responsibility on my shoulders.
“You do really take it on yourself, and you think, ‘Is this my fault? How have I let this happen?’ But you look at the bigger picture and the environment and situations that we were in, we’ve stayed really tight together as a squad through it.
“I wanted to be fully focused putting my boots on and getting the best performance out of myself and the team but when you go into contract negotiations, and it’s not smooth you’ve got no security behind you.
“You don’t know whether you’ve got a job one minute or not, you don’t know if you’re able to pay your mortgage, you don’t know if you’re able to feed your family. People see the glamour of rugby, but for a female player, maybe it’s not so glam.”
Turning Point
The hope now is that the appointment of both Moore and Lynn can be a turning point for the women’s game in Wales.
They will kick off their Guinness Women’s Six Nations away in Scotland in a match that will also be a preview of a Rugby World Cup group game later this year.
Before then, Jones and Lynn are going for an unprecedented hat-trick of Premiership Women’s Rugby titles with Gloucester-Hartpury as they take on Saracens on Sunday.
Then it will be onto Wales, with Jones set to lead the team with a skip in her step.
She added: “He’s the right person for the job for sure. Since he’s been announced I’ve been excited to get my Welsh jersey back on again.
“We talk about results, and we talk about who’s going to win but a big result for me as captain is just seeing the girls happy in a Welsh shirt and enjoying their rugby in a Welsh environment again.”
READ MORE: John Mitchell names England Women’s Six Nations squad
