Mark Jones: Coach says New Zealand players hungry for June restart

Mark Jones scored 13 tries in 47 Wales appearances

Former Wales wing Mark Jones, now a coach with New Zealand side Crusaders, says players will be really hungry to restart their season in June.

New Zealand is the first rugby nation to resume professional competition, starting behind closed doors.

"Players are going to be really hungry," Jones told the Scrum V podcast.

"They're champing at the bit to play, like anything you love you miss it when you can't do it."

Jones is defence coach at Super Rugby champions Crusaders under Scott Robertson, and backs coach for the Canterbury provincial side in the second-tier Mitre 10 Cup.

New Zealand has been able to ease restrictions after new coronavirus cases dwindled to virtually zero, though the country's international travel ban means the Wales tour there in July is likely to be called off and the All Blacks' visit to Europe in November is in doubt.

Crusaders will start their campaign against Hurricanes in Wellington on 21 June after sitting out the opening round of the eight-match competition, with their usual games against Australian, South African, Japanese and Argentinean teams ruled out.

All Kiwi players will undergo daily medical checks and will be urged to minimise their social contacts outside their work and family environments.

"It's going to be a great challenge in many ways (playing without a crowd), it'll be interesting to see how players who use the crowd as a motivating factor will cope with that, and how the dynamic of momentum within a game goes," said Jones.

"We're still exploring the details (of training), what we can and can't do, now we've got to integrate them back into the team environment, starting with small groups and building it up. Hopefully in the next five weeks they'll be fit and healthy to undertake a difficult derby series."

Jones had coaching spells with Scarlets and Wales before a three-year period as head coach of Welsh Premiership club RGC, then overseeing Namibia's backs at the 2019 World Cup.

He started work in December and helped his franchise to five wins out of six before New Zealand was locked down in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

'Just use positive language'

So far Jones has been impressed by the forwards' skills and by the positive coaching mantras of Robertson, who narrowly missed out on the All Blacks job.

"The forwards in particular are more rounded in skills than a total squad would be back home, because of the time a northern hemisphere side spend around their set-piece - though they (northern hemisphere teams) have an edge in certain areas because of conditions," he said.

"Scott said 'just try to use positive language', he's encouraging players to do what they want to, rather than telling them not to. It was quite powerful for me and now I've got to pay up (a fine) every time I use the word 'don't'!"

With his family only joining him just before the lock-down, Jones is now hoping that his wife Helen, a former netball international, and children can start to enjoy their new life in New Zealand as well, as the country blazes a trail in reopening sport.

*Listen to the full interview with Mark Jones on the Scrum V podcast, available here on demand.