It was when inspirational British & Irish Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones was asked about what the side means to him where the real emotion came out.
“Ohh… I remember watching Jinks [Neil Jenkins] in ’97. So to be involved with him in Wales and to be out here with him is really special. Really special,” Jones said as he cleared his throat.
“Probably can’t put it into words, so I’m not going to try. You’ll probably get me going,
"I’ve already had a bit of stick for being overly emotional and you know, I don’t give a fuck if people think I’m over-emotional, that’s what it means to me and I apologise for using language but you know sometimes it’s easier to use the agent of a bit of raw language so I apologise for that.”
Alun Wyn Jones ranks his toughest opponents
#1. Paul O'Connell
Born October 20, 1979, Limerick
Major teams British and Irish Lions, Munster, Ireland
Caps 115
Position Lock
The Irish second row was certainly blessed with special rugby powers having been one of the world’s leading tight forwards for more than a decade. A three-times Lions who captained the tour of South Africa in 2009.
Alun Wyn Jones said: "We got to know each other very well as team-mates with the Lions and opponents for our clubs and countries. You cannot shy away from how effective the guy was in his position.”
Did you know? O'Connell initially excelled at swimming and only started playing rugby at the age of 16
Major teams Barbarians, Blue Bulls, Bulls, South Africa A, Toulon, South Africa
Position Lock
The second row enforcer in South Africa’s World Cup winning team of 2007, this was a man you didn’t mess around with. Rounded off his career with three European Cup wins with Toulon.
Jones said: "He revelled in it didn't he. Physically he has to be up there. Let's just say he was able to keep the tradition going of the hardest of South African second rows."
Did you know? Botha is the only player in the history of rugby union to date to have won a hat trick of Super Rugby and European rugby titles
Jones said: "Away from the physical side, banter-wise it would have to be Aussie lock Justin Harrison. He was interesting to play against to say the least."
Did you know? He is currently the head of the Australian Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA)
“I don’t give a f**k if people think I’m over emotional. That’s what it means to me.”
Raw emotion from captain Alun Wyn Jones when asked about the impact the Lions has had in his career.
What a servant.
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