Rugby Union: GOT HIM; Happy Jason given green light to play for Wales.
JASON Jones-Hughes yesterday won his right to play for Wales - and put himself on a collision course to face his native Australia next month.New South Wales centre Jones-Hughes has been in the middle of a tug-of-war between Wales and Australia all summer.
The 23-year-old was chosen in Wales's World Cup squad last June, but the Aussies protested to the International Rugby Board.
They claimed Jones-Hughes, whose father was born in Colwyn Bay, was ineligible because he had played for the Wallabies' second string against the Scots last year.
An IRB sub-committee upheld Australia's protest last July, but Jones-Hughes, with the backing of the Welsh Rugby Union, lodged an appeal which was eventually heard this week.
The IRB's executive committee, which contained two lawyers, ruled in Jones-Hughes's favour after hearing that two players who were in the Australian Barbarians team against Scotland were not qualified to play for the Wallabies. They have both since been capped by Tonga, and the IRB decided that while Australia's second team may well be the Barbarians, the side Jones-Hughes played for clearly did not fulfil the necessary criteria because it was not truly national.
"I am delighted," said Jones-Hughes, who is packing his bags today for the flight to Wales and the World Cup.
"It has been a hard couple of months, daunting at times, but this result makes it all worth while. My father is so happy that he has been singing Welsh songs to his mates.
"I have had a few sleepless nights over
the last couple of weeks because I so desperately wanted the verdict to go my way but I just did not know.
"I know that if winning my right to take up my place in the Wales squad has been hard, it is going to be even tougher breaking into the team.
"They have a lot of quality at outside centre, but I can also play on the wing and I am going to give it my best shot.
"It would be a dream for me to play alongside Scott Gibbs in the midfield because he was my boyhood hero. He is a terrific player."
Jones-Hughes will arrive in Wales on Thursday and join up with the Wales squad on Sunday when they go into camp in Pembrokeshire. He is not short of a gallop with the Australian season coming to its end and he played for New South Wales in their 24-3 defeat by Queensland last Saturday.
"I am fit and raring to go," said Jones-Hughes, who is expected to join Cardiff after the WRU has agreed a compensation package with the Aussie union, to whom the centre is contracted until next year.
"There is a real prospect of Wales facing Australia in the quarter-finals and that would be a strange experience for me because I know all of the Wallaby players.
"I would not be afraid of any adverse reaction because I have terrific support in Australia for my bid to play for Wales.
"The players' association was behind me 100 per cent and so were rugby supporters and officials.
"I am still in shock because I had prepared myself for the worst. But I made up my mind months ago that I wanted to play for Wales, and missing out on the World Cup would not have been the be-all-and-end-all."
Had Jones-Hughes lost his appeal, he would never have been able to play for a country other than Australia because of a rule change coming into force in January, which says that once a player has appeared for a country's first or second senior side, he has made his international bed and must lie in it.
"Jason showed a lot of guts," said Wales coach Graham Henry.
"Appealing last July's decision was his choice and he had a lot to lose because he could have ended up an outcast in Australia with nowhere to go.
"I admire his intestinal fortitude and I am delighted he will now be joining up with us. The wheels of justice turn slowly and I think Australia were being a bit childish because Jason was told months ago he would not be in their World Cup squad.
"This has shown his strength of character and he will be a valuable asset to our squad."
Wales were training in North Wales yesterday and Henry repeated his claim that Wales had no chance of winning the World Cup.
His problem is that he has played down his side so often this year that he is now seen as crying wolf.
He claimed: "I am being realistic. The Welsh public are outside the square. I have told them they are completely loony and they accept that.
"They have had some dull times over the years, but as long as the players keep their feet on the ground it is all right for the Welsh public to have a little game among themselves."
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| Title Annotation: | Sport |
|---|---|
| Author: | Williams, Paul |
| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
| Date: | Sep 7, 1999 |
| Words: | 819 |
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