Alun Wyn Jones feeds his eight-month-old daughter Loti in the kitchen of his Swansea home. Moments later, he lifts the youngest of his three daughters onto his knee as she playfully wrestles with his face, while his wife Anwen looks on.
Dressed all in black, the most capped player in rugby union history maintains a formidable physique, yet this is a scene of domestic bliss, a far cry from his public image as a tireless warrior who won 158 caps for Wales and 12 for the British. and Irish Lions over four tours.
Four weeks after his retirement, the 38-year-old’s thoughts are already turning to the next phase of his life. But before he goes any further, he must first look back. For the last time.
During his glittering international career he won five Six Nations titles, including three Grand Slams. The Ospreys Lock also played in four World Cups, reaching the semi-finals twice.
In 2021, Jones appeared to defy medical logic by recovering from a dislocated shoulder suffered in the Lions warm-up match against Japan to return and captain Warren Gatland’s side in the Test series against South Africa. He also captained the Lions in their third Test win over Australia in 2013.
Still, it looks like the final battle is now coming to terms with how it all came to an end. Jones announced his international retirement in May this year, despite initially being included in Wales’ provisional squad for the World Cup in France.
He has kept his advice so far, but the greatest player to wear the Welsh jersey in the professional era wants, for his own future and well-being, to share his final chapter.
“I haven’t done an interview like this for a long time and this will be the last one I like,” said Jones, who made his Test debut in Argentina in 2006.
“But I need to share my perspective so that I and my family can move forward. Since I retired from international rugby, everyone has been asking me questions, and those questions are becoming increasingly difficult to answer as time goes on.”
Jones walks through his kitchen, picks up a small box and pushes out what looks like a small silver Bluetooth speaker. It is essentially a personal ECG device to monitor his heart rhythm.
“I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation,” he says. “It was discovered when I underwent a full medical check-up, including an ECG test, when I joined Toulon in July on a short-term contract to cover the World Cup.
“The cardiologist picked it up straight away. My heartbeat was like a galloping horse with six legs. It was everywhere in the store.
“The things that trigger it in someone my age are probably cardiovascular exercise and stress. It occurs in sports such as rowing and endurance sports, but it was a shock because I have always prided myself on my fitness throughout my career. “I’ve always been so committed to doing extra things after games, constantly working on my fitness and recovering from injuries.”
Jones flew back to London the next day to visit a consultant who assured him that the risk to his health was low, but because his heart rate was consistently high it would be important to undergo a procedure once his contract with Toulon expired in November to avoid long-term complications.
“We have acted on medical advice from a rugby point of view,” he added. “There was a risk, but I was willing to play for Toulon. Anwen and I had a conversation as husband and wife and I said: ‘I’ve come this far, if I drop, I’ll at least do something I like.’
“It may seem like a selfish decision as I have three young daughters, but I had to take the opportunity. It would only be for four months, and it gave me a chance to experience my career and life and gain perspective.
Accepting the Toulon contract despite his condition was important to Jones for two reasons. His contract with the Welsh Rugby Union expired in November and his ‘old school’ attitude was such that he had always intended to respect that.
His cameo in Toulon, which included captaining the side in his last appearance – a win in Clermont Auvergne four weeks ago, which earned him a standing ovation – allowed him to meet the target date to end his 19-year career.
But it was more important to have one last meaningful rugby adventure, given the way his international career had come to an end.
“I started thinking: Is this my time?”
When diagnosed with his heart condition, he was told he had probably developed it a year to 18 months earlier, the period in his Test career when he was first told that his ‘numbers’ – the fitness data recorded during matches and training – fell.
He now wondered if the decline was due to the underlying health condition, rather than the general expectation that age had finally caught up with the great warrior.
Looking back, that’s wonderful, but the signs and possibly symptoms started in early 2022 when, after a five-month layoff with two shoulder operations, he won his 150th cap against Italy.
He began to notice a decline in his condition and fitness, despite doing everything he could to adhere to his rehabilitation plan. At the time he put that down to his absence from Test rugby, but he was relegated to the bench for the three Tests during the tour of South Africa that summer.
“After every session and every match I did extras because I wanted to be involved,” he added. “I even did extras after the last game of the summer tour because I was trying to prove a point. But now it’s clear why I felt tired. I remember having a strange palpitation, but I didn’t think anything of it because I was used to pushing my body.
“It was similar in the fall of 2022. I remember seeing a ‘Bronco’ [an intense rugby cardio fitness test] for the first time in a few years and my time to complete the test was significantly worse than before. Now I wonder if that was because I could only run at 75 percent of capacity. I’m grateful to the strength and conditioning team who stuck with me and still believed in me.
“You always hear about players whose legs are gone when they reach the end of their career. I started thinking, ‘Is this my time?’ There were numerous conversations with the then head coach about my future.”
‘They were trying to do the right thing’
He admits it left him in a dark place and was also tough on his family. The recall to the starting XV only after Wales’ humiliating defeat by Georgia was hardly a convincing show of support.
Warren Gatland’s return as head coach in January following the sacking of Wayne Pivac led to a final twist. The pair had a frank discussion at the start of the Six Nations campaign, with the head coach telling him he was looking for new second rows, which was always going to be the case at some point.
Jones said that was fine, but he had a contract until November and was desperate to do whatever it took to make the World Cup squad. “I was grateful for that conversation,” Jones added.
Jones started the defeats to Ireland and England, but the final round loss to France in Paris, when he withdrew after 47 minutes, proved final. “I knew what Gats’ expectations were,” he admitted.
Jones was still included in Wales’ provisional World Cup training squad on May 1, but says he was visited by Gatland and forwards coach Jonathan Humphrys the following day. “I knew what was going to happen,” he added. “They said my grades were down.
“They wanted to do the right thing by including me in the squad and then letting me retire on my terms. I understood why they did it that way. They tried to do the right thing, but I wish they had told me sooner. I would have done everything in my power to put myself in contention to be selected for the World Cup. Now I know that because of my condition it probably wouldn’t have made any difference anyway.”
Jones is grateful for an outstanding career and everyone who helped and supported him along the way, including those who delivered his final verdict. Surgery four weeks ago resolved his condition. He just hopes that his experience over the past two years will serve as a warning sign, prompting players in Wales to have their hearts checked more regularly.
“There’s a lot of talk about wellbeing in rugby at the moment, but does that apply to everything too?” he added. “Is it only things we can afford? The sport has certainly reached the point where players need to be screened more frequently, especially at a time when the demands in the game are increasing. I was very lucky with the way things turned out and I will forever be grateful to Toulon for signing me. If they hadn’t offered me a contract, I might never have known about the heart condition.
“Those four months in Toulon were as important for me as anything I had done before, from a physiological and mental point of view. It gave me a wake-up call.
“Sometimes I forget how old I am, because I have trained and played at the highest level for so long. I’ve never really seen myself as anything other than a rugby player. Now I am a full-time family man.”