The time Alun Wyn Jones confronted blazer over after dinner speech
James Haskell has recalled how he impressed he was at seeing Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones confront a WRU blazer after a heavy defeat at Twickenham.
The Welsh skipper appeared on ‘The Good, The Bad and the Rugby’ podcast recently and opened up about his career and plans for the future.
Haskell spoke about how he witnessed an unnamed Wales blazer dressing down the team in a speech at the after-match meal, only for the Welsh icon to immediately seek him out to confront him over what he’d said.
“I was blown away the time England played Wales at Twickenham, and somebody from your side got up and did a speech and basically said you’d let the team down and it was a bit of an embarrassment and you walked straight up and said ‘don’t ever speak about a team like that, everyone has tried their 100 per cent.
“Yes the result, we didn’t get what we wanted but you cannot say that’. I was like ‘f***ing hell, I love that’, you want a leader to be able to speak up and say that. I was blown away.”
Jones said that approach had got him in trouble behind the scenes before.
“In credit to him [the speaker], I think he was as disappointed as we were. Obviously, he had a few more than we had.
“In credit to him as a man he met us in person and apologised to us. It is what it is sometimes.
“That sort of approach has got me in trouble at times as well. It doesn’t happen too often but I think sometimes when something needs to be said it needs to be said.”
Wales ended a forgettable Guinness Six Nations campaign with a result few thought possible – losing at home to Italy. Their poor run of form in the Test arena has sadly been mirrored in the regional setup, where the teams have suffered one of their worst campaigns in years.
Wales are now gearing up for a World Cup year and Jones spoke recently about putting the recent run of results behind them.
“It can definitely get better, can’t it. I won’t pull any punches on that.
“I think we have to rewind 12 months. There was this big thing about giving opportunities to players and getting the strength in depth which we haven’t had.
“The melting pot of players is larger. It is down to us then, or Wayne to get the squad and essentially put a better product on the park.
“I think it’s perceptions. Results promote chatter and opinion. The inevitable criticism that will come, it always does.”
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Ultimately it is the entire NZR board who should be sacked. Foster wants to be the ABs coach, you can't blame him for that. NZR appointed him in what was a terrible process for actually finding the right candidate, more of a coronation based on the false assumption of "continuity" - it was clear from the BIL tour in 2017 which direction the ABs were heading, continuing that seemed crazy by they decided to do it anyway. They then reappointed him before he had faced a true test before the NH tour of 2021 which was a disaster. They could have sacked him then. They could have sacked him after the Ireland series where it was clear the ABs were well of the pace. They could have done it after the tests in SA which despite being 1-1 were not in the least bit convincing. Basically they have backed the guy every year, but now in the lead up to the world cup they have decided he's definitely not the right guy, yet he remains the coach.
Go to comments"taking the land they felt had been stolen from them during the colonial era" the land had been stolen, and the requisitions were entirely justified. I'm very sorry that Negri's family were hurt but this article is basically just propaganda for apartheid.
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