Stay updated with breaking news from Lions jones. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
When Gatland rang Jones last Sunday evening, the call went to voicemail. Jones was out in his garden, working on his exercise bike, “Sunday evening spin to get my legs going for Monday”. Just one last little piece in his weekly workout routine that means, at 35, he will be the oldest Lions captain since Johnny Hammond in 1896. “I saw his name on the missed calls list, and he’d left a succinct voicemail: ‘Give me a call when you get this.’ So I did and he said: ‘I’d like you to lead the Lions.’” Jones paused. The silence went on just long enough for Gatland to begin to wonder what was going on at the other end. “It wasn’t apprehension,” Jones explained afterwards. “I wasn’t playing hard to get, but there was a bit of a pause just because it is a very big thing in a career.” And there, in the silence, a little sense of what this means to him, even after all those international caps and Test matches, titles, and trophies. ....