Scarlets Attack Coach Mark Jones has expressed his excitement after being selected to join the Wales coaching set up this summer for Wales’ two-test tour of Japan.
The 33-year old former winger with Scarlets and Wales who has 47 international caps to his name and 164 appearances for his region, has been coaching the Scarlets with great success since he retired from rugby in 2010.
He joins former Scarlet colleague Robin McBryde who will step up as Interim Head Coach of Wales during the summer tour of Japan in 2013 when Warren Gatland and Rob Howley are both on duty with the British and Irish Lions in Australia.
McBryde will lead a powerful coaching team featuring Neil Jenkins, Shaun Edwards and Mark Jones as assistants for the tour – providing an opportunity to enhance the development pathway structure process.
The role for Mark Jones is seen as an opportunity to boost the dynamic skills coach’s career development as well as offering a proven level of expertise to the international coaching mix and a fresh outlook and new ideas to benefit Wales.
The WRU is hoping McBryde and his team can repeat the player development successes achieved during the 2009 tour of Canada and the USA. In that tour the national coaching team fielded five new caps including Sam Warburton, Jonathon Davies and Craig Mitchell who remain key contenders Wales squad places.
The tour party led by 37 times capped McBryde will play test matches in Osaka on Saturday 8 June and Tokyo on Saturday 15 June.
The Scarlets’ Mark Jones said: “I’m delighted to have been asked. This is a exciting opportunity for me to develop further as a coach and will help me to explore new ideas and gain wider experience that I hope will in turn benefit my full-time role with the Scarlets region.
“I am very grateful to the Scarlets for agreeing to support me in my progression as a coach and backing me to take this opportunity at international level.
“It will be a privilege to work with the Welsh team and a group of talented international players and coaches. I had a good working relationship with Robin (McBryde) at Parc y Scarlets, he’s a smart man and know and respect his qualities as a rugby coach. I look forward to joining up with the team including Neil Jenkins and Shaun Edwards and I’m sure we can build a strong team.
“To be part of your national rugby set-up as a player or a coach is a huge honour and I’m really looking forward to the work ahead and contributing as much as I can to the summer campaign.
“I’d to express my thanks to the coaches who I have worked with and have backed me to bring about this role at international level – from Nigel Davies who showed great faith in me to hand me my first role as Scarlets Attack Coach and then to Simon Easterby and Danny Wilson who have worked closely with me this season to produce some good results for the Scarlets putting us in second place in the RaboDirect PRO12.”
Jones said he was looking forward to working with the international players, many of them known well to him from the Scarlets but also some new faces from across the four regions.
He said: “This is a great opportunity for me to get a different perspective from working with a wide range of international players and to get their views as well instigate some fresh ideas.
The summer tour will come at the end of the Scarlets season and finish before the start of the region’s pre-season training, so will provide a busy year for the Scarlets Attack Coach.
The family man from Builth Wells said he would only have taken the opportunity with the blessing of his family. “It’s going to be a busy 2013 for me and as a family of four with two young children, I’ve never left them for more than two or three nights. The fact my family are very proud and excited for me and have fully supported me in going to Japan was a deciding factor for me as well.”
Scarlets Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “We are delighted for Mark, he is a talented coach with a great enthusiasm for and commitment to the game in Wales. He has plenty to offer the international set-up and will gain some valuable experience.
“We fully support his opportunity to go with Wales to Japan and will look forward to seeing him thrive in the international coaching environment and come back to us with new experience, ideas and confidence which will only benefit the Scarlets.”
Career Scarlet Jones enjoyed 12 seasons with his region is hugely popular amongst fellow players and supporters, playing 164 times for his region and scoring 425 points (85 tries). He played his first Scarlets game against Saracens on 26 August 1998. He has won 47 caps for Wales, scoring 13 tries for his country and was part of the Grand Slam winning team in 2008.
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