From Sochi to Langford, Kingsley Jones will continue building rugby in nations better defined by ice hockey.
Jones, who previously guided the Russian national team, was named head coach of the Canadian rugby team Thursday. The Welshman replaces Kiwi Mark Anscombe, who was fired following a series of Test losses, culminating in the 80-44 two-game total-point collapse over the summer against the U.S. in the North American qualifying series for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Jones will move to the Island next month to prepare seemingly freefalling No. 24 Canada for the back-door Americas regional World Cup qualifying set against No. 18 Uruguay to be played in February. Before that is the game against the Maori All Blacks on Nov. 3, with less than 1,000 tickets remaining in the lower bowl of B.C. Place Stadium, and games against No. 12 Georgia, No. 19 Spain and No. 9 Fiji in Europe during the November Test window.
Jones will be based at the Rugby Canada Centre of Excellence in Langford, where the national team is centralized. The Russian team was based largely in Sochi, which is about the only city in that country where you can practise outdoors in winter, but which ironically hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.
“I have experience of coaching a Tier II [rugby] nation,” said Jones, in a teleconference interview with Canadian sports media.
“I am not trying to change the rugby culture here, but improve it if I can, and play to the strengths that we have. We made up a lot of ground in Russia [now No. 20 in the world]. There are parallels to Canada, without being exactly the same. Canada is a huge country with challenges [of uniting sport across vast expanses] that are not going to go away. It was the same scenario in Russia, where we had four of five strongholds of rugby [spread from Sochi to Siberia].”
That is why centralization plays such a critical role in national-team strategy across a number of sports in both Canada and Russia.
“Centralization helps a group very quickly,” said Jones, the 48-year-old father of two, who has also coached in the English Premiership, European Championship and Pro-12.
“Rugby Canada has made the investment in Langford. To have 26-28 players there is exciting for me and I am looking forward to it. I have a short period of time to assess the resources we have. It’s about getting time with the players. I want to acclimatize and hit the ground running.”
Jones really has no other choice. He has been pouring over tape of recent Canada games.
“Defence and set pieces are core aspects we need to improve on. We need to all be on the same page defensively. We cannot give up points on driving mauls,” he said, of the recent Canadian defeats.
As for Canuck strengths right now, Jones replied “scrums.”
Jones was a flanker in his playing days and capped 10 times for Wales between 1996 to 1998, which is no small feat in rugby, toured with the famous Barbarians and played pro for Worcester, Glasgow, Pontypridd.
“I played against the best players and played with them. But there needs to be one man leading it,” said Jones.
“I captained all the teams I played for, which back in those days was like coaching.”
But he is also familiar with the second tier, which is more apropos to Canada in rugby.
“Russia was all about challenges and life experiences,” he said, of his time guiding the Russians through the 2011 and 2015 World Cup cycles.
“We would go into Tbilisi to play Tests in Georgia and there were 60,000 people in the stadium and flares going off. The [atmosphere] was even more than that in New Zealand and Australia sometimes.”
There is a foundation to build on in Canada, too, said Jones, noting its all-time high ranking of No. 8 as World Cup quarter-finalist in 1991 and No. 12 ranking as recently as 2011.
“Canada has been a strong team historically,” he said.
But that now seems like another era. It is now up to Jones to restore that faded lustre in Langford.
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