The Gloucester-Hartpury midfielder has been a key part of the Wales Six Nations success so far, being involved in wins over Ireland and Scotland in the first two rounds. “The wins have certainly made going round the Tesco aisles a bit longer,” said Jones.
“I had people coming up and saying nice try after Ireland and spoke to Shane Williams at the pool in Ammanford who watched it so it was great to see that the guys are keeping track of our progress. “ But Jones feels that the preparation for the games has made them much better prepared on the field.
“Ioan and the coaches have brought in some new plays for us and going professional means we have time to go through these plays and practice them a lot,” she said. “We could not have asked for a better outcome then to get two wins from two and it was great to be able to get over the line in the Ireland game in what was a great team try.”
In recent months, professional contracts have been awarded by the Welsh Rugby Union to 12 of its players, including Jones. And Jones believes it has already helped her improve massively as a rugby player. “The contracts have made a huge impact on our games so far, I especially see a difference in the gym, we are going in fresher, so we are able to lift heavier,” said Jones.
“We can train harder and tackle harder which is raising our game on the pitch, when we may have struggled in the last 20, we can now finish stronger.”
This weekend Wales face a totally new challenge in the shape of England in the third round of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations
“England have a massive amount of strength and depth which has been developed over years,” said Jones. “But it will give our players a huge confidence boost thinking that we can compete with the English players in the Allianz Premier 15s so why can’t we compete with them this weekend.
“We cannot afford a slow start, when you are playing the world number one and you start slow then you will get punished, we need to start fast, go in with an open mind and go for it as we have nothing to lose, so I am looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
However, despite playing the best in the world, going professional has given Jones a confidence boost which she is hoping will carry through the rest of her career. “It’s given me a lot more confidence, I have more time to prep for the game during the week, we are each given a performance plan at the start of the week so just having the time to focus on that then transform it into the game has been great,” said Jones.
Jones will be hoping she can carry some of her new-found confidence into the game at Kingsholm on Saturday.
