Ospreys man Jones is certainly held in high regard throughout Wales and on the eve of the penultimate game of this year’s Six Nations, Robin McBryde has praised his impact on the whole squad.
When Sam Warburton was ruled out of last month’s trip to France, Jones quietly assumed the captaincy and led Wales to successive wins in Paris and Rome.
And despite Warburton’s return from injury, Jones stays as skipper for tomorrow’s Murrayfield clash.
“Ryan has learnt a lot from his experiences as captain and as a player,” said forwards coach McBryde.
“The first thing we did was sit down and speak about the autumn and the lessons he’d learnt. He was pretty disappointed and has been able to put that to good use.
“He has taken it in his stride, has been able to focus on his own game too and been very effective for us on and off the field.
“We couldn’t ask for any more of him as a captain. The best sort of leaders are the ones you don’t see and he’s happy to take a back seat.”
Led by Jones, Wales now travel to take on a Scotland side who ground out a narrow win over Ireland last time out despite seeing little of the ball.
And although Scotland have improved dramatically under Scott Johnson, McBryde argues that Wales are in confident mood.
“We’ve had a good two weeks of preparation,” added the former Wales hooker.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us. Murrayfield is never an easy place to come and they’re on a bit of a roll.
“We’ve erred on the side of experience with some of the selections we’ve made and hopefully we’ll benefit from that tomorrow.
“I think we’re in a good place at the moment and can put Scotland under pressure tomorrow.”
You can follow every minute of this week’s action between Scotland and Wales at www.wru.co.uk/live just prior to kick-off.
