Christopher Michael Jones (born 24 June 1980 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

) is a retired English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

rugby player. He played as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

or flanker, featuring for Sale Sharks and

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

in the

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

in the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

. His rugby union career blossomed at Stockport Grammar School. He went on to take a Business Studies course at Sheffield Hallam University and was two years into it when the Sale Sharks invited him to join them. He played for Cheshire at U18 and U20 level, then briefly with Fylde before joining Sale Sharks. He made a startling rise to the

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

squad, and was nominated for the 2003 PRA Young Player of the Year Award. He was part of the England A team that beat

France A France A, also known as France XV and France B in the past, was the former name of the second national rugby union team of France behind the French national side. In 2011 the French Rugby Federation designated the France U20 team as the second ...

, Scotland A and Italy A in their 2003 Six Nations and also went on the unbeaten England tour to North America and Japan that year. He played for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the uncapped match against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in May 2003. The year 2004 marked another leap forward. He was called up to the senior team by then head coach

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lion ...

from the start of the Six Nations. He came off the bench against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for his debut cap and scored a try. This earned him a starting position against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

as a flanker and again against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

from where he continued to impress. He was selected for the

2004 Summer tour 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, starting against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

in Dunedin in the first Test. Sale Sharks director of rugby Kingsley Jones referred to him as 'the most hard done-by player in England' after he was hardly used during the 2005 Autumn test series. Jones went on to collect more

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

on the 2006 Summer tour of Australia and 2007 Summer tour of South Africa. In the 2005–2006 season, Jones started the final as Sale Sharks won their first ever Premiership title. He was also voted Sale's player of the year in 2006 and again in 2008. On 22 May 2014, Jones officially joined

in the

on a two-year contract from the 2014-15 season. On 19 May 2016 Jones announced his retirement from rugby after suffering a concussion against

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

in April of that year.

Personal life

Jones married Donna on 28 June 2008 at

Dromoland Castle Dromoland Castle ( ga, Drom Ólainn) is a castle, located near Newmarket-on-Fergus in County Clare, Ireland. It is operated as a five-star luxury hotel with a golf course, with its restaurant, the "Earl of Thomond", being awarded a Michel ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. They live together in Cheshire. Donna gave birth to their first child on 10 April 2009, Daniel William Jones. Their second child, Alánnah Monica Jones on 14 November 2011. Their third child, Harrison Peter Jones on 23 February 2014 and their fourth child, William Christopher Jones was born on 22 September 2015.

References

External links

Sale Sharks profile

England profile

Guinness Premiership profile
*https://web.archive.org/web/20120827035746/http://www.warriors.co.uk/warriors/matchcentre/players_warriors_first_team.php?player=4502&includeref=dynamic {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Chris 1980 births Living people Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University England international rugby union players English rugby union players Fylde Rugby Club players People educated at Stockport Grammar School Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Manchester Worcester Warriors players Sale Sharks players