Hair-raising Jones is head boyo!

Chris Jones|Evening Standard|In Brisbane

13 April 2012

With his trademark sandals and mop of curly brown hair, Adam Jones looks like a back-packing Wales fan having the time of his life at the Rugby World Cup.

Ever since his 6ft, 19 stone frame plonked itself firmly in Australia he has stood out from the crowd - to say nothing of the shavenheaded hordes in the England pack.

While Clive Woodward's men have been shedding their locks throughout the tournament - Kyran Bracken is the latest to receive a tight crop - Jones has been growing the most impressive Welsh barnet since John Taylor graced their pack in the Seventies. Taylor's team-mates - thinking his wild hair resembled a brush - gave him the nickname Baz after TV's Basil Brush.

Taylor is now an ITV commentator, but Jones is doing his best to imitate the shaggy dog look he pioneered by adding a beard - of sorts - to his curls. He now appears to be a mass of hair on top of a very large body.

The hirsute look was the result of a conversation with fellow shaggyhaired Neath prop Duncan Jones, who was forced home from the tournament after breaking his leg.

"We were at training at the start of last season and both of us had longish curly hair and so we decided to grow it for a laugh and I quite like it now," said Jones. "No one has grabbed it on the pitch yet, although Gareth Llewellyn did in training and he is my Neath team-mate!"

The new style proved so fetching that by the time Neath played Munster in last season's Celtic League Final, the Welsh club's supporters had bought hundreds of curly wigs to wear at the match.

Now the Wales fans do the same, with many likely to be on show here on Sunday as they pay homage to Jones and the rest of the youngsters who have restored so much pride.

Other Welsh players have taken notice of the Jones boys playing prop for Wales, particularly when they packed down either side of balding Robin McBryde, the Llanelli hooker, in a recent international. McBryde returned to Llanelli to find his teammateshad bought him a large wig so that he wouldn't feel left out next time.

In the crowd on Sunday will be Adam Jones's parents, who booked places on a supporters' trip once their son was picked. They had been saving to be part of the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand, but brought the trip Down Under forward. "To be honest, mum has been even more excited than me about how things have gone," said Jones, who is hoping to win his sixth cap.

"They have been saving for so many years for the Lions trip and decided, instead, to see the Boy in the World Cup, which is great."

On Sunday his parents will see him up against Jason Leonard, one of Jones's all-time sporting heroes.

The Welshman was just nine when Leonard made his debut against Argentina in 1990 and is full of admiration for an opponent who will win his 111th cap, equalling Philippe Sella's world record.

"The great thing about Jason is that he still keeps true to the way things used to be in the amateur days, shaking his opponent's hand and having a pint after the game. Fair play to the guy, what he has achieved is awesome," said Jones, who made his Wales debut against England in August.

Despite this obvious hero-worship, Jones would be delighted to put one over Leonard on Sunday. Having played so well against New Zealand, the Abercrave-born tight-head also wants to prove the good times really are coming back for Wales.

He said: "When we came up against the All Blacks I must admit I wondered how I was going to cope. You see these players in Super 12 and Tri Nations, but we managed to give them a shock. It turned out that if you flew into them hard, they got hurt just like you. They were only human after all - even though they do that Haka. As a 15-year-old I had a New Zealand rugby kit, then last Sunday I was out on the pitch facing the All Blacks while they did the Haka. How brilliant is that?"

Almost as good as beating England on Sunday!

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