The north Walians are currently sitting in fourth place as one of four unbeaten teams after the opening two weekends. Aberavon are top, Carmarthen Quins second and another of the promoted teams, Merthyr, in third.
Jones’ side have kicked-off their debut season in the top flight with back-to-back away wins against Bridgend (20 – 3) and Neath (30 – 16). And the former Wales wing, who played senior rugby at Llandoery before heading to the Scarlets, is delighted with the “a good start” his team has made after clinching the final promotion spot last season.
“I can’t fault the effort the guys have put in. We’ve put a lot of hard work into key areas and it really paid off for us in the first two weekends,” said Jones, who took over the coaching reigns at RGC from another former Scarlets favourite, Phil Davies.
“I think that what we’ve shown in the past couple of weeks is that we’re able to sustain for large periods and when we need to put some sparkle into key areas we’ve got the players that can do that.”
Llandoery lost their opening game at Aberavon but hit back with a big bonus-point win over Bargoed last weekend. They finished as runners-up in the regular Premiership campaign last season and went on to win the Swalec Cup for the second time.
So, while Jones has been delighted with the performances of his side to date, he knows the season is only going to get harder. The top eight clubs in the expanded 16-team tournament will break off to play against each other in the second half of the season to challenge for the title.
“Bridgend and Neath are probably the teams that have had the most transition, so I suppose they’re a bit more evenly matched than some of the other more established teams. We’re looking to establish our side in the division in terms of brand of rugby and the style of play that we’re going to implement,” added Jones.
