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Stuart Barnes' take on Alun Wyn Jones' hairline raises eyebrows in Wales

By Ian Cameron

An assessment of the performance of Welsh skipper Alun Wyn Jones in his side’s Six Nations defeat to England by Sunday Times columnist Stuart Barnes has raised eyebrows in Wales.

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The men in red were handed their third straight loss in a row but Barnes singled out the performance of the 34-year-old Osprey for special attention.

Barnes didn’t hold back in a scathing take on the lock’s Twickenham outing, which centred around the dominance of England’s Maro Itoje.

“Itoje was instrumental in the moments that mattered the most. Jones was part of a pack that was backpeddling at the scrum, part of a pack that had to concede penalties from driving lineouts.”

“This was not a day for myths, for men who could not turn back the tide. Jones could not…The inspiration was lacking from that first moment with Itoje onwards.”

Not only was his performance on the chopping block, but his hairline too into the bargain.

“At Twickenham when the crowd were treated to a 65th-minute shot of the Wales captain, he looked like little more than an ageing rugby player, the hair thinning a little.

“Jones’ lineout impact was well nigh invisible and his attempts at linking in the loose were poor. Without their leader, Wales were left with little more than a magical try, a scrum in retreat and a lineout very much second best.

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“Despite that ridiculously flattering scoreline, the truth is that Itoje didn’t have to raise himself to the levels of performance he produced against Ireland.

Meanwhile Jones has called on World Rugby to review an incident during his side’s 33-30 Six Nations defeat to England on Saturday when opposition prop Joe Marler appeared to grab him around the groin area.

Marler, who has a chequered disciplinary history, escaped sanction for the first-half incident during a melee that went unnoticed by the match officials.

But it is likely to be looked at by the match citing commissioner, which could leave Marler in disciplinary trouble.

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World Rugby’s punishment for what they term “testicle grabbing or twisting or squeezing” ranges from a suspension of 12 weeks to 24 weeks or more.

“What would you do?” Jones said in a post-match media conference when asked about the incident.

“I’ve got 138 Tests for my country. If I react, I get a red card. It’s tough, isn’t it?

“Hopefully World Rugby have a look at it.”

Additional reporting AAP

WATCH: Wales coach Wayne Pivac and captain Alun Wyn Jones speak at a press conference following the team’s Guinness Six Nations match against England.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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