Mark Jones, a dual code international who was one of the most rugged forwards in Welsh club rugby in the eighties and nineties, has died at the age of 59.
The ex-Glanhowy Youth No 8 first made a name for himself at Neath after coming out of the Wales Youth team coached by Ron Waldron, before going on to win 15 caps for Wales in rugby union and then nine in rugby league. He also played in a Test match for Great Britain.
A physically gifted and combative No 8, as well as an explosive ball carrier, he blended well into an established Neath pack and helped the Welsh All Blacks become one of the best sides in the UK.
He made his Neath debut in a 20-10 win over Abertillery at The Gnoll on 7 September 1985 as a raw-boned 20-year-old. He joined a club that was under the generalship of Brian Thomas and coached by Waldron and Glen Ball.
Their uncompromising style was built on fast, fit and mobile forwards feeding a back division that initially boasted Jonathan Davies.
Neath won the Welsh Championship in 1986/87, 1988/89, 1989/90 and 1990/91 and the WRU Schweppes Cup in 1989 and 1990.
World records were set by the club in the 1988/89 season of 345 four-point tries and 1,917 points. Jones scored 25 of the tries to improve the previous club record for a forward held by the legendary Dai Morris and Mike Thomas and also played against the touring All Blacks in 1989.
“This is incredibly sad news and I’m sure everyone’s thoughts are with Mark’s family and friends at this time. He was a good friend and teammate of mine,” said former Neath and Wales second row Gareth Llewellyn.
“Mark was a superb physical specimen and a tremendous athlete. Some people thought he could be a bit of a bully, but he could take it as well as dish it out.
“Off the field he was very cordial and affable and it wasn’t until he wrote his book, ‘Fighting to Speak – Rugby, Rage & Redemption’ that we understood what he had been going through due to his stammer.
“He could have been an even greater rugby player had his physicality been better channeled. As it was, he was pretty damn good anyway – everyone who played with him will miss him.”
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In his book, written in 2022, Jones revealed his on-field brutality was a direct consequence of the off-field torment he suffered with his debilitating stammer.
He admitted his frustration with his stutter led to a self-loathing and the internalising of an explosive hate that only playing rugby could release.
Unfortunate opponents were often on the receiving end of his rage and he became desperately unhappy with the thuggish reputation he’d created.
After one exceptionally ugly incident, when he broke another player’s eye socket, he realised that in order to defeat his demons and control his bad behaviour he needed help to conquer his stammer.
Sent off six times during his career, and banned for 33 weeks in total for violent conduct, he was dismissed playing for Wales XV against Rugby Canada in a 31-29 win in Edmonton on their summer tour in 1989.
He won the first of his senior Wales caps against Scotland in 1987, scoring a try on debut, and was called out to New Zealand as a replacement for the 1988 tour. He came off the bench in the second Test on that trip.
He switched codes in 1991 when he joined Hull. He made 67 appearances for the Black & Whites before joining Warrington in 1995.
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That was the year he helped the Wales rugby league team reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, joining forces with fellow 15-a-side internationals John Devereux, Adrian Hadley, Jonathan Davies, Jonathan Griffiths, Dai Young, Richard Moriarty, Richard Webster, Scott Quinnell and Rowland Phillips.
After two years with Warrington, including in the first year of Super League in 1996, he returned to the recently professionalised union code.
He signed for Ebbw Vale and played well enough to earn a Wales recall in 1998 for the tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Unfortunately, injury prevented him from playing, He went on to enjoy further playing stints with Pontypool and then a return to Neath.
His homecoming to The Gnoll also saw him pick up another WRU Challenge Cup final winners medal in the 2004 victory over Caerphilly.
He took on coaching roles at Rotherham Titans, Aberavon and Dunvant, before moving to the Middle East, where he worked as a lab technician at the Abu Dhabi International School.
“Mark Jones was an outstanding rugby player, one of the Neath all-time greats and a popular man who always had time to speak to people. He will be deeply missed by his many friends and colleagues at Neath RFC and beyond,” wrote Neath secretary Mike Price.
Jones collapsed and died of a heart attack while training in a gym in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
