Eight year wait for World Cup return is almost over for England's Meg Jones

It has been a long eight years since Meg Jones last appeared at a World Cup, but with less than a month till England 2025 kicks off, and Jones named in England’s squad, the wait will soon be over.

Jones scored England’s first try of the Ireland 2017 World Cup and started the final in the centre against New Zealand. Remarkably that night in Belfast when England lost 41-32 was her last taste of World Cup action.

In 2022 when the COVID-19 delayed 2021 World Cup took place, Jones was returning to 15s having gone full-time with England’s 7s programme at the start of 2018 and wasn’t selected.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

Now though, aged 28 she is an well-established member of the team, one of John Mitchell’s vice-captains and counting down the days till England kick off the tournament against the USA at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.

“I’m buzzing, it’s the pinnacle of your career, on top of all other major tournaments,” said Jones. “It was always a dream of mine to come back and come and stamp my mark in a World Cup again.

“It’s eight years later from when I was last in the World Cup. I was 20, so kind of just like a deer in headlights at that point. I kind of know what’s going on now and want to solidify my place in the team.

“A home World Cup doesn’t come around often and to have that opportunity, it’s just amazing. I just want to have lots of fun.”

It wasn’t as though Jones was sitting around idly waiting for the England coach to call. Since she last stepped on a World Cup pitch, she has played sevens at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games and won bronze at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Jones has also moved clubs three times. First from Bristol Bears to Wasps, then to Leicester Tigers, and now back to west London with Trailfinders Women.

While Jones is one of the more animated players and never lets an opportunity pass to let her personality shine through, such as wearing a Chloe Kelly shirt to training the day after the Lionesses Euro 2025 triumph, her determination as a player can be traced back to growing up in Cardiff and playing in boys teams.

Later she left home at 16 to study and play across the border at Hartpury College, a well-known breeding ground for future internationals, and where she found greater competition. It was while studying in Gloucestershire that she took up the option to represent England, where her mother is from, rather than Wales.

Jones is comfortable juggling the fact that she is the best of her Welsh and English sides. While there have been attempts to appear more English, “I did once try and put a posh accent on. It lasted probably about 30 seconds,” she is reaping the benefit of her choices.

It means Jones has a grounding that keeps her pushing for more while ensuring she enjoys every moment.

“My dad’s Welsh, my mum’s English, and they are very much a huge part of this journey for me and will continue to be so,” Jones said. “I’ve just lent into being me a little bit more.

“We get a bit uptight when it comes to these campaigns, because it’s really important, and we’ve got to win the World Cup.

“There is all this pressure we put on ourselves, but actually if we enjoy what we do, and we have fun, and we take as much pressure we can off and see it as a game with four white lines, it just makes our job a lot easier.

“One of my biggest things, is I want to come off the back of the campaign and say, ‘I enjoyed every moment of that.’ It was all the company that I had around me. We had a good time doing it, grafting hard together, trying to achieve a common goal.”

Now, her aim is to be first choice outside centre, as she has been over the past few campaigns, and if she isn’t, it is to support whoever Mitchell choses.

While the whole squad is very diplomatic and in no way presumptuous about their place in the team, it would be surprising not to see Jones in the 13 jersey for the big games. Since Mitchell became England coach in October 2023, Jones has started eight of the 10 Red Roses’ Six Nations matches, always in the 13 shirt.

That said, Mitchell did experiment more with his line-ups as the Red Roses claimed another Six Nations Grand Slam this year. Some changes were out of necessity, and some were out of choice, but it has helped ensure Mitchell has tough choices to make when selecting his side.

“Going into a World Cup, you never know how much you’re going to have to lean into your depth,” Jones said. “It is a long period and we’ve got to earn the right each week. Girls are going to be putting their bodies on the line, and you just don’t know what’s going to come out of it.

“Fingers crossed all goes well but we’ve got those connections to lean back on now and we’ve had those minutes under our belts with different combinations.

“Every game we’re gonna have to earn our right with what’s in front of us. We’re fully aware of that, and we know no team is going to lay down and let us walk over them. That’s really important to remember and we’re just going to try and earn each battle as it comes and go in all guns blazing.”