Head Coach Profile – Kingsley Jones is a rugby union head coach of Welsh nationality, as he was born in Nantyglo, Wales on June 19, 1970. He has played previously with the Welsh national team and has played professional rugby union in England and Wales.
Kingsley Jones: The Men’s Rugby Canada 15s Head Coach
Childhood and Personal Life
What is interesting about Kingsley Jones is that he comes from a traditional rugby union family. Jones’ father, Phil Kingsley Jones, was a former manager of Jonah Lomu, who was known as one of the best players in the world.
Jones talked about what his father meant to him in a Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press article when he sadly passed away during COVID-19:
“He touched so many people, from all ages,” he added. “He had the ability to give people confidence. People warmed to him. His communication skills were exceptional.”
Jones also talked about what he learned most from his dad in a Simon Thomas Wales Online article:
Both of Kingsley Jones’ sons are also professional rugby union players, continuing the lineage and tradition of rugby union in their daily lives.
Kingsley Jones: Professional Playing Career
Jones played for many teams from 1993-2004. However, the four teams he had the most presence with were Cross Keys, Gloucester, Worcester, and Doncaster. With Gloucester, Jones made the semi-final stage of the 2000–01 Heineken Cup as their captain. This is how he explained what it was like playing for the English side (Gareth Griffiths of Wales Online):
Also, he was able to captain the Welsh, with his first game as captain being 96-13 defeat to South Africa in 1998. This is what Jones said in Andy Howell’s Wales Online article about his team having to play South Africa with short notice:
Kingsley Jones: Coaching Career
Sale Sharks (2004-11)
Jones’ start in management began with Doncaster from 2003-04 as a Director of Rugby. He would then go to the Sale Sharks, where he would make his mark with the club, going from the Forwards Coach (2004-05) to the Head Coach (2005-09), to the Director of Rugby (2009-11). The Sale Sharks owner, Brian Kennedy (Source: Press Association of The Guardian), said this:
During Jones’ time with Sale, they won the 2004-05 Challenge Cup, and the 2005-06 Premiership title. This also marked the most successful time in management for Jones as of right now.
Russia (2011-14)
Jones got his first-ever Rugby World Cup experience as head coach when coaching Russia in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He started off as an assistant coach in 2011 but was quickly promoted to the head coach. When he was with the national team, he never lost to a team lower ranked than his team, which was a credit to his coaching ability and to the players as well. This is what Jones said about his time with the Russian national team, specifically the leaders (Source: Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press):
“They really led the team,” he said. “That’s my style really. It’s the same here, I go though leaders and it worked really well. And through that those guys, well they were empowered.”
In Russia’s first-ever appearance in the Rugby World Cup, they did not earn one win. However, they were able to almost beat the U.S. in their first-ever Rugby World Cup game on September 15, 2011.
Jones was also the assistant coach of the NPG Dragons from 2013-14 and the head coach of the NPG Dragons from 2014-17. Unfortunately, under his tenure, the team was never higher than ninth place in the Pro12 (now Pro14) league. This is then what led to his Rugby Canada position.
Rugby Canada (2017-Present)
Jones’ time with Rugby Canada has been quite long so far, even though the results have not been there. Jones did experience going to the Rugby World Cup once again in 2019 but failed to register a single win in the competition. They then failed to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which was the first-ever time that Canada did not qualify for the Rugby World Cup. However, despite that, the CEO of Rugby Canada, Nathan Bombrys, expressed confidence in Jones ability to get the job done (Source: Rugby Canada):
“We recognize that it is disappointing not to see Canada in the Rugby World Cup this year. We need to make significant improvements and rebuild our program to see our Canadian team back knocking on the doors of the very top rugby nations. Considerable building work has already begun, but there are lots of elements that need to be put into place. We need regular fixtures and consistent competition for our national team squad, in addition to quality training and coaching,” said Nathan Bombrys, Rugby Canada CEO. “We believe that Kingsley is the right head coach for this next stage in our journey, providing consistency to our program and continuing the work started in developing our squad.”
This is also what Stephen Aboud, Rugby Canada Director of High Performance, said about this (Source: Rugby Canada):
As for what Bombrys said, Canada seems to be now playing more games than it has before. The team is also on a bit of a high as the Canadians have recently defeated Romania last month for the first time since 1995.
READ MORE: Scotland v Canada: A Big Match Coming Up in Ottawa
Rugby Canada Games Coming Up
READ MORE: Canada vs Romania: Rugby Canada Looks to Rebound
Rugby Canada lost their first game in the 2024 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup to Japan Rugby, but showed signs of improvement in their second half against Japan.
The game against the U.S. will be shown on TSN+ It will take place in Carson, California at 3:00pm EST (6:00pm PDT) on August 31. This is an important game as a loss for Canada would mean they are eliminated from the 2024 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup competition.
Photo Credit: Rugby Canada on July 2024.
