Rhodri Gwyn Jones (born 5 October 1972) is a former

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 ...

international rugby union player. Jones played as a flanker and won 13 caps for Wales over a period of two years before a spinal injury ended his rugby career in December 1997.

Early life

Jones was born in Swansea in 1972. He was educated at Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pontybrenin, then Ysgol Gyfun Gwŷr. He went on to

Llandovery College , image = Llandovery College (geograph 5927072).jpg , image_size = , motto = Gwell Dysg Na Golud( here areno riches better than learning) , established = , closed = , type = Independent day and bo ...

and then Cardiff Medical School, where he played for Cardiff Medicals RFC.

Rugby career

Jones captained Wales at under 15 and under 17 level. He also won five caps for the under 18 level. He soon progressed to the Senior stage winning 13 caps for Wales, five of which as captain. He was the 109th Captain of Wales. His first cap was 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 ...

in 1996 and his last against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1997. Jones scored one international

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. Jones suffered a spinal injury playing in his normal position of open-side flanker for his club

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

against Swansea in December 1997. For five days after the accident he was unable to move from the chest down even though X-rays showed his spinal cord to be severely compressed rather than broken. At the time of the accident, he was 25 years old, captain of Wales and having attained 13 caps was expected to have a long and distinguished playing career. Jones never played again, but after an operation and extensive rehabilitation, which included learning to stand and walk again, he recovered sufficiently to develop a career as a rugby critic on both English and Welsh-language television and returned to his career as a doctor in Cardiff. In 2002 the Welsh Rugby Former International Players' Association and the Welsh Rugby Union honoured Jones with a Bravery Award. His great uncle,

Ivor Jones Ivor is an English masculine given name derived either directly from the Norse ''Ívarr'', or from Welsh (which spells it ''Ifor''), Irish (sometimes ''Ibar''), or Scottish, all of which likely derive it also from the original Norse form.The Oxford ...

, was capped by Wales and toured Australia and New Zealand in

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with the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

and also served as president of the Welsh Rugby Union.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Gwyn 1972 births Living people Welsh rugby union players Wales rugby union captains Welsh-language broadcasters Cardiff RFC players People educated at Llandovery College Wales international rugby union players Rugby union players from Swansea Rugby union flankers