The Times takes a close look at two of Wales' Joneses. prop Adam and lock Alun-Wyn.
"Anyone who has watched the players during the national anthems before a game will have noticed that Alun Wyn Jones gives Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau a real hammering. It is his way of dealing with the emotion.
"Perhaps only Lee Byrne in the Wales team has advanced as fast in recent years as Alun Wyn Jones, who, as well as playing for the Ospreys, is studying law at Swansea University. From being a promising but raw second row, he has matured into a formidable ball-carrier, who scored a try against Scotland last month. He calls all of Wales’s lineout throws, an area of the team’s play that has improved noticeably this season. He is a certainty for the Lions party this summer and a decent bet to pack down against South Africa alongside Paul O’Connell, the Ireland lock whom he faces in the final match of the RBS Six Nations Championship in Cardiff on Saturday.
"When Jones was named captain for the game against Italy last Saturday — making him the youngest forward to lead Wales for 75 years — the compliments came thick and fast. “I love the way he wants to play for his country,” Gatland said. “I like his workrate, his honesty. Plus he is a great player.” At this, Jones blushed slightly. When he was younger, he looked up to Martin Johnson, the former Lions lock and captain who is now the England team manager. It is in Johnson’s footsteps that he will hope to follow in South Africa. “He had an aura,” Jones said. “But I don’t want to be known as another Martin Johnson. I want to be Alun Wyn Jones.”
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