Holistic approach working well for young star Johnes

Not only did she win her first cap at 17 in the victory against South Africa in late 2018, but she now has an undergraduate degree in Geography at Oxford University to look forward to.

International recognition as a teenager and enrolment at the most prestigious university in the world were meant to be bookends to a gap year spent travelling, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way.

“The travelling won’t be happening any more due to the lockdown, but I’m keeping myself busy,” says the prodigious openside. And that she has, working as an assistant teacher at Ysgol Gwaelod y Garth on the outskirts of the city. Keeping the children of key workers entertained has been fun, she says. “There’s something different to do every day. We’ve got fewer than 10 children. I’ve been in goal the last two days, or playing with mud.

“I don’t plan to be a teacher in future but it works well with rugby: 9am-3pm, with no work outside of class.”

If standing between the sticks hasn’t been keeping her fit, all the rugby-specific training she’s been doing certainly has. The Wales players are being tested every five weeks across various fitness disciplines. “I feel like I’m training more than I ever have in my life because it’s a good way of filling time,” she says. “It’s not like we’ve got any excuses not to train.”

Her club, Bristol Bears, is also keeping Manon and her teammates entertained.

“We’ve got a type of ‘Lockdown Games’ going on where we’re set different challenges every week,” she explains, with challenges including recreating music videos. “There’s a competition between the women and the men, with a prize to be won every week.”

Manon is used to competing with the boys. She was the only girl on the team at CRICC, the junior section of Cardiff Quins, whom she would also go on to represent. Since it was clear from an early age that Manon was sports-mad, she was at the right secondary school in Glantaf.

Although she’s the only girl in recent years from the school to represent Wales in rugby, Meg Jones, a few years her senior, plays for England. “I’ve met her a few times in the past couple of years,” says Manon. “She was out in Australia went we went there with Wales Sevens for a Commonwealth Games warm-up tournament.”

It’s an international athlete from a different sport who has proved her biggest inspiration, however. Her PE teacher at Glantaf was former Wales footballer Gwennan Harries. “She’s been an immense role model for me, my biggest influence without a doubt,” Manon says. “In school it would normally just be the academy boys working out in the gym, but she got me going in there in the mornings, getting into good habits. I’m still in contact with her on a weekly basis, and she’s more of a friend than a teacher now.”

Obviously one who likes to keep busy, Manon has been coaching the girls’ rugby team at Glantaf for the past three years. Perhaps staying close to her roots keeps all her achievements in perspective, although today’s restrictions have allowed her to take stock of a whirlwind couple of years.

“When you’re training and playing throughout the season, you don’t really have time to reflect on things,” she says. “But the current crisis has allowed me to do that in a way. I know there’s so much I want to achieve in the game.

“I was subbed a lot this year and was injured a fair bit, missing out on the autumns. My aim is to establish my position in the Wales team and keep improving myself, whilst also keeping the balance with life and university.”

She evidently recognises the importance of finding that balance, with 2021 set to see her juggle her time between Bristol, Wales and university. “You play your best rugby when you’re happy, and I’m happy when I’m concentrating on all aspects of my life rather than just the game.”

This article is translated from the original #CymryCymraeg series.