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One of the first things you notice when
you enter Keith Jones' apartment, perched above the beachside
suburb of Maroubra, is the photos. Hung neatly on the walls
of the living room, the smiling faces of his family welcome
you from a range of times and places.
His family and the people of Blaengwynfi, the village in
the upper Afan Valley where he grew up, are very important
to Jones. They are a constant source of pride and are never
far from his mind.
Jones' attachment to his family shines through as he talks
about his cousin Gary's son, Duncan Jones, the Welsh and
Neath-Swansea Ospreys loosehead
prop. He is so close to him that he regards him as his nephew.
Once he mentioned to Welsh hooker, Mefin
Davies, that Duncan was his nephew. "Oh, is Gary your
brother?" asked Davies. Without pausing to think, Jones
told him that he was Gary's cousin.Only later did he discover
his mistake."I didn't realise at the time that to be
my nephew, his father had to be my brother," he recalls.
"When I got home I thought [to myself], 'You dosy so-and-so;
he's not your nephew."
Jones was keenly anticipating catching up with Duncan and
watching him play when he came out to Australia at the end
of last year for the Rugby World Cup. His hopes were set
on getting to see him when the Welsh team came up to Sydney
to meet the All Blacks in their final pool match.
But these plans were painfully shattered when Duncan went
down injured against Italy in Canberra, the match before.
The agony of Duncan's misfortune was driven home by the
rest of the team's joy at proving themselves by securing
a spot in the quarter finals.
Jones is a highly expressive person. His memory is sharp,
and he comes alive as he relives the unfortunate incident.
"I was sitting here watching it," he says, gesturing
towards the couch in front of his television, "and
I thought, 'What a time to get a bad injury.'"
"As soon as he did it I thought he'd done his knee
because his leg was sort of twisted and his body went back,"
he says. But the next day in the Sunday paper, he discovered
that Duncan had only broken his fibula, the smaller bone
in the lower leg, and, Jones reasons, "if you're going
to break a bone in your leg - that's the one to break."
Fortunately, this meant that he was only going to be out
for six weeks, but this meant missing the All Blacks match.
"This was a massive disappointment," Jones recalls.
"I spoke to him about this after he'd returned home.
He was absolutely shattered. He was really looking forward
to playing against the All Blacks because that's how you
determine how good you are."
To make matters worse, they couldn't even meet up. Duncan
had to leave the country two days later to make room for
his replacement. Jones talked to him on the phone, the morning
he left hoping to meet up with him at Kingsford Smith, but
Duncan only had fifty minutes between flights.
Considering where he has come from, Duncan's achievements
are remarkable.
His father is quite short - Jones, who isn't exactly tall
himself, says Gary only reaches his shoulder - and like
most of Blaengwynfi, soccer is his true passion. But Duncan
inherited his large frame from his grandfather who played
rugby for Maesteg Town.
While Duncan was still in school, he
weighed in at over 18 stone. He has dropped a stone now
but he still has an imposing presence. "He's almost
as wide as he is tall," jokes Jones. As a youngster,
he played both soccer and rugby but his massive size that
determined Duncan's future career.
Jones, who came out to Australia to play
football well before Duncan was born, began to take interest
in his rugby in 1996 when he signed his first contract with
Neath. Two years later, Jones returned to the village and
met Duncan. They hit it off right from the start.
A couple of times, he went to the gym in the village's Workers'
Hall and worked out with Duncan whose strength amazed him.
"Oh, he was massive! He was picking up weights back
then that were bigger than me, I think," says Jones,
his memory kicking in again.
After joining Neath Juniors as a lad, Duncan progressed,
earning positions in junior Welsh sides. In November 2001,
he earned his first cap for Wales, coming off the bench
against the Wallabies at Millennium Stadium. Jones remembers
watching it with a great deal of pride. "I sat their
glued to the telly and then they made the substitution and
he came on. It was a great feeling because he's family and
it's a great feeling playing for your country."
Jones should know, having represented his country, as well
as Queensland and New South Wales, in soccer in his playing
days. There is an honour board in the Gwynfi Social Club
which lists everyone from the village who has represented
Wales on the sporting field. Jones' name heads the list
which also includes his younger brother. Now, Duncan's name
completes the Jones family hat-trick.
Duncan's success, Jones notes, is extra
special as he is the first person from the village to play
rugby for his country. "Of course, Rugby Union is the
be all and end all in Wales. It's much bigger than soccer.
It's bigger than Cardiff City and Swansea Town. It's a religion!"
he says.
But Duncan hasn't let his achievements
go his head. He's still laid back and unassuming, but all
that changes when he pulls on a jersey. 'It couldn't have
happened to a nicer bloke," he says. "He's very
quiet, very reserved when he's off the field and then when
he's on the field, he's a tiger and a half apparently."
It hasn't always been smooth sailing
though. When Duncan first played for Wales, his coach was
Graham Henry who held him in high regard. When he resigned,
he was replaced by Steve Hanson and Duncan's position in
the side was not as secure. While he was never dropped from
the squad, he struggled to make the team. "He wasn't
flavour of the month with Steve Hanson," Jones says.
Just prior to the World Cup, Duncan cemented
his place in the team and he showed good form in the first
games of the tournament. The injury came just as things
were beginning to improve. As his teammates played gallantly
against New Zealand and England, he was forced to return
home.
Despite his own loss, Duncan didn't forget
about his family. He left some tickets for the All Blacks
match at the team hotel. When Jones went to pick them up,
he got to meet most of the players. He met Duncan's 'namesake',
Adam Jones - "a smashing bloke" - who told him
the team was really missing Duncan.
He also brought three jerseys from his
son's friend to get signed by all the team, and they happily
obliged. What most impressed Jones was that all the players,
even though they were strangers, went out of their way to
talk to him. "It was a really good experience for me
because I got to spend a couple of hours with them and I
had a chat and I got the jerseys signed," he says.
Duncan also left behind a World Cup training
jersey signed by the entire squad. It now takes sits his
wardrobe along with Duncan's other jersey and Jones wore
it proudly to the All Blacks match at the Olympic stadium.
Jones speaks about the atmosphere at the game with a buzz
of excitement. Even though the All Blacks class won in the
end, he feels it was a great game. The Welsh lads played
well but were beaten by a better team, and for Jones, that
is enough. "It's one [game] I won't forget for a long
time," he says.
With Duncan back in action, Jones couldn't
be happier. "He's virtually resumed where he left off,"
he says. "He's doing something he loves, he'sgetting
paid good money and he's travelling all over the world -
all expenses paid."
All the village and his family
are so proud of what Duncan has achieved so far but Jones
feels a British Lions selection is a possibility. "Oh,
wouldn't that be fantastic. Absolutely!" he says just
thinking about it. And if that were to happen, there's no
doubt it's something Jones would
always remember.
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