Windhoek – Following the arrival of Welshman Dale McIntosh as Namibia’s senior rugby team, the Welwitschias, new forwards coach, another Welsh legend Mark Jones is on his way to Namibia to join the backroom of head coach Phil Davies ahead of this year’s World Cup in Japan.
Davies, himself a Wales native, is faced with a mammoth task of steering Namibia to her first ever World Cup victory when action gets under in Japan from 20 September until 2 November.
As per of his ongoing efforts to tighten all loose ends and bolstering the squad ahead of Japan, Davies recently brought in McIntosh to assist in the forwards department and now the arrival of former Wales winger Jones as new backs coach is another big move aimed at helping Namibia realise her dream of clinching a historic win at the upcoming global rugby showpiece.
Jones stepped down as coach of Welsh side Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC) in May this year after three years as head coach of the Premiership side. Jones was part of the Wales coaching set-up in 2012-13 when they won the Six Nations title.
Speaking to Wales Online, Jones said: “Phil asked me to come on board after I left RGC and it was all agreed a few weeks ago. It’s a big honour to be asked. This kind of opportunity doesn’t come about very often and I’m looking forward to the challenge. Every coach wants to coach at the highest level and it doesn’t get any bigger than the World Cup. It’s a chance for me to have a look at something different and to keep challenging myself. It will expose me to things I haven’t experienced before in terms of getting the best out of individuals I don’t know that well. You can do as many coaching clinics as you want, but working with players day to day is when you find out how good you are.”