Kingsley steering Canada into new era

A new era of Major League Rugby could herald a reversal of fortunes for a nation that carved its name in rugby’s consciousness with rambunctious displays at the ’91 and ’95 World Cups. “The MLR is a big help, especially when you consider that half our squad at the 2019 World Cup were amateur players,” says Jones. “Having 66 players in this new league means they’re in a daily professional training environment.”

The league is trialling several new laws, including water breaks on 20 minutes, no conversions for tries under the posts, and a strict single-reset limit on scrums – all of which Jones favours. “I didn’t think I’d like change in rugby, but it’s actually really good,” admits the former Wales flanker. “The key thing is that the infrastructure here is growing, from coaching to medical to analysis. We’ve even got the likes of JP Doyle and other really experienced referees officiating. It gets better every week because it’s such a new thing.”

Jones believes the competition has the potential to change the game on a global basis within the decade. His assistant coach, Rob Howley, has spent over two months working with Canada’s MLR franchise, the Toronto Arrows. “I speak to Rob on FaceTime more than I speak to my wife,” Jones laughs. “It can be difficult appointing coaches in international rugby because you haven’t got much time to spend getting to know each other, but Rob and I played in the same team, and were captain and vice-captain of Wales together. We worked closely in Australia in ’96 and South Africa in ’98 so we’ve got that trust in each other.”

Canada have not played a match since their World Cup loss to eventual winners South Africa in Kobe, October 2019. They were due to play Namibia in their final pool match, before Typhoon Hagibis caused an evacuation order which robbed both sides of a precious shot at victory in the tournament.

Their most recent training camp came in November, involving only domestic players. “It was a chance for us to reach out to some of the younger guys, lots of the U20s from the 2019 group that haven’t been playing,” Jones explains. “I won’t see the squad again now until the Monday before we play Wales, so it’s going to be a huge challenge.”

If the pandemic has provided him with any crumbs of comfort, it is that Canada will now be playing Test matches in Principality Stadium and Twickenham on consecutive weekends this July. “This opportunity wouldn’t have come around in normal times,” says Jones, who was Sale’s first team coach when they won the Premiership in 2006. “I appreciate Wayne Pivac reaching out to see if we were interested, which shows the value of those relationships. England was always in the calendar [they were due to play in Toronto], but Eddie Jones has been great too. Hopefully we put on a good show. We’re excited for it and have a nothing-to-lose approach.”

Being in charge of men’s performance, Jones’s remit is wide. Canada is the second largest country in the world by area, and part of his role involves aligning some of its huge provinces, like rivals British Columbia and Ontario. “I’m trying to get everyone on the same page to avoid things becoming a bit parochial,” he says. “We have bi-monthly meetings, and the communication between all parties is outstanding. We’re heading in the right direction.” A national academy was founded two years ago, overseen by two stalwarts of the Canadian game, Jamie Cudmore and Phil Mack, to help develop the best 18- to 20-year-olds.

His rare breaks away from working life take place in the forests and mountains surrounding him on Vancouver Island. “I bought an off-road motorbike, or a ‘dirt bike’ as they call them here, which I used to do a lot of as a kid,” says Jones. “I’ll set off and find myself three or four hours later deep in the mountains, spotting black bears and all sorts.

“It’s been really refreshing and good for my mind. I haven’t done enough of that sort of thing in the past 20 years, and I intend to keep doing it.”

He’s had a lot of cause for reflection these past few months. The passing of his father, Phil Kingsley Jones, was felt by the rugby world – and a corner of New Zealand in particular. “My dad loved South Auckland, and in some respects it’s similar to South Wales.” There is a lounge named after Phil at the Counties Manukau stadium, where Kieran Read was among those who performed a haka in his honour. “His big thing was being able to communicate with people. Whether you were the king or a homeless person, he could make you feel good about yourself.”

The gift of communication clearly passed on to Kingsley. As a 30-year-old captaining Gloucester – Jones has skippered every team he’s ever played for – he told the Guardian: “My teachers at school said that I talked too much, but it’s been an asset for me. You need a lot of communication on a rugby field – in defence and attack – and a man who can talk for 80 minutes throughout a fast game of rugby offers his team an added bonus.”

Today he caveats that philosophy: “A big part of communication is listening, and emotional intelligence is critical too. To have an awareness of how people are feeling. There are so many strings to this job: you’ve got to be a teacher, a manager, a good communicator. You’ve got to be considerate of your staff and be able to empower them. They are the key things.”

He credits a number of men for seeing the potential in him as an up-and-comer. “I still speak to Mostyn Richards [former WRU head of performance] and Leigh Jones,” he says. “The influence Philippe Saint-André has had on my career has been huge, with all the playing and coaching opportunities he’s given me. I’ll be forever thankful to him, and he’s a very good friend now. I also think about people like Malcom Shepherd, the former chairman of Ebbw Vale. These are the guys who saw the leader in me.”

On the rare occasion that he’s back in Wales, home is a 500-year-old farmhouse near the historic village of Trellech, five minutes outside of Monmouth. But go back over 30 years and some 30 miles away and it was Blaina. “It’s a remarkable place when you think about all the people who’ve come from there,” says Jones of the small valleys town. “When I was a child, I used to see Mike Ruddock running up and down the hill outside my house when he was with Swansea. Bob Norster was my temp teacher at Nantyglo.

‘If you’re lucky enough to meet your heroes, it incentivises you and makes you realise that maybe you can do that too. Byron Hayward grew up in number 41, I grew up in number 47. Dai Watkins, Nigel Meek, Jason Strange, Shaun Connor – the list goes on.”

He has another frame of reference for the Blaina phenomenon from his time with the Russian national team. “Dagestan has all the best wrestlers in the world. When they’re practising and they’ve got the second best wrestler in the world training with the world champion, it’s only going to drive the standards.”