This post was originally published on this site.
Ospreys prop Cam Jones signed a new deal with his hometown club just before being brought in to train with Wales
Wales players arrive at Allianz Stadium, with uncapped Ospreys prop Cam Jones stood at the back(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
For Ospreys prop Cam Jones, it’s been an exciting couple of weeks.
Towards the end of June, the loosehead signed a new deal to remain at his hometown club – having come through their academy. The 6ft 4ins prop has made 12 appearances to date for the club, but already he is starting to make an impression.
Upon signing the new deal, his head coach Mark Jones admitted that the 24-year-old has “all the potential to be a top-quality player”.
Clearly, those within Wales camp seem to agree.
Having already brought one uncapped Ospreys prop, in tighthead Rhys Henry, into Wales camp for a closer look this summer, Steve Tandy saw fit to do the same with Jones ahead of the Barbarians match last Saturday.
Jones spent the build-up to that hit-out match with Wales, even travelling to Twickenham on the weekend and being part of the warm-up in London.
Of course, Wales aren’t exactly short on loosehead options at the minute. Rhys Carre, Nicky Smith and Gareth Thomas are all contenders to start, while Rhys Barratt showed some impressive moments on his Welsh debut on the weekend – including one rampaging break.
Jones, with a surprising turn of pace, fits a similar bill to Carre and Barratt.
After Tandy brought Carre back in from the cold following his exile by Warren Gatland, clearly there’s a type of loosehead – the marauding kind – that this Wales coaching team like the look of.
With Duncan Jones at club level and Paul James at Test level, there are coaches in place to help Jones and others reach their potential.
But, for now, merely having some time in camp will have done Jones the world of good, according to Tandy.
“I think it’s huge,” said Tandy. “I think it’s something that is exciting and that’s where I think long term is how, in between campaigns, we can accelerate.
“We’ve had Cam and Rhys Henry and it’s been brilliant. The development in Rhys Henry over three or four weeks has been brilliant.
“Training with these guys at the intensity, bringing other people in at that speed builds them up. But also I think it’s educating and teaching them about what they got to do before.
“After training, how to be a professional around the recovery process, whether it be ice baths, saunas, robustness. So it’s been amazing.
“A young kid like Cam, you can see he’s fast, he’s athletic, brilliant ball player, so exposing him to four weeks with our boys is exciting.
“We want more contact time with the boys, we want to find ways as coaches. That’s where you’ll see Paul, it isn’t just about during the campaign that we want to see these boys.
“The beauty of our country is we’re small, but we can get people together really quickly, so it’s something that we want to accelerate in that way as well.”
Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news.
