Thursday, July 21, 2011

ALUN WYN JONES ON ENGLAND

Alun Wyn Jones could win his 50th Welsh cap against England next month - but he is not looking past his next training session on Wales’ pre-Rugby World Cup camp in Poland.
The Ospreys captain has already packed a British & Irish Lions tour and a Rugby World Cup into a whirlwind career, which began less than five years ago on tour in Argentina and has also seen him lead his country.
But the six foot five inch tall, 26-year-old is taking nothing for granted as Wales prepare to face the old enemy twice in home (13th August) and away (6th August) fixtures and Argentina at the Millennium Stadium before leaving for the 2011 RWC in New Zealand.
“If I get there at Twickenham or back home in front of the home fans it would be a special moment for me, but I don’t want to think too far ahead,” said Jones.
“I’m not counting my chickens by any stretch and I need to keep my head down, work hard and stay fit and hope that I get the opportunity.
“This is one of those years with only a short amount of time off and getting to that World Cup will be about endurance.
“ If you can gain selection, when the squad is announced you have to get on with it and don’t take a step back.”
Jones has faced England on five occasions for Wales and has three wins under his belt, one at Twickenham (2008) and two at the Millennium Stadium (2007, 2009)

“It would be nice to add to the win ration, but England are on a roll at the moment, so much so that they put themselves in Grand Slam contention in the RBS 6 Nations,” continued Jones.
“We put ourselves in contention for the title as well going into that last game and, albeit we lost that final game which moved us down the final table, but we put some really good performances together too.
“We hit a bit of form as well in the RBS 6 Nations and we will want to carry that with us to Twickenham.
“They are our nearest neighbours and our closest rivals because of that.
“It’s a bit of a cliché to call them the old enemy, but there is a strong history there and we will relish the opportunity of facing them both on their home soil and back in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium.
“We normally only get to play each other once a year in the six nations so back to back fixtures will be a whole new experience.
“We are used to that kind of fixture schedule on the summer tours, but this is like a ‘home tour’ and it has that extra carrot at the end of it in that there is a Rugby World Cup to play in.”
Jones is currently attending Wales’ second training camp at the Olympic training venue in Spala Poland, but he says the squad are keeping a close eye on what is happening in the Southern Hemisphere at the moment, with two RWC Pool D opponents – Fiji and Samoa – both in action.
“Samoa have been there or there abouts for a number of years and we know how tough they are from facing them in 2009,”added Jones.
“We have seen their victory over Australia in detail, they took an unassailable lead early in that second half after going in up at the break and they held their ground.
“We will have a keen eye on Fiji game tomorrow morning as well, with the boys having some time off from training tomorrow we will probably get together to watch it.
“First and foremost with every team we play we must and do respect every opponent.
“Both Fiji and Samoa are similar in that they have a host of players who have been performing week in week out in the premiership.
“When they get together in New Zealand they will be hoping that it will all come together for them.”
Tickets to the Wales vs England Rugby World Cup warm-up match at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday 13 August (kick off 2.30pm) are priced £30 and tickets to the Wales vs Argentina on Saturday 20 August (kick of 2.30pm) are priced at £25 and are on a ‘buy one get one free’ promotion.
Fans can also purchase their tickets for the Millennium Stadium clashes offer online at www.wru.co.uk/ticketsor by calling the ticket hotlines 08442 777 888 or 02920 230130 or at local Tesco stores.

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