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The captain of Wales Hannah Jones admitted that she was considering retiring international rugby in the middle of the “shameful” management of his team’s contracts last year.
The Welsh Union of Rugby (WRU) apologized after threatening to withdraw the national women’s team during a dead end of negotiations on new transactions last August, but denied that their behavior had been sexist.
Coach Ioan Cunningham and Nigel Walker, executive director of rugby, quickly left the union, who appointed Sean Lynn as head coach before the six women.
Lynn worked in close collaboration with Jones in Gloucester-Hartpury and confirmed the center as a captain for the tournament while Wales is preparing to open his campaign against Scotland on Saturday March 22.
But the 28 -year -old man admitted that she was planning to refuse the role on the contract saga.
“It took one night [to decide]”Revealed Jones. “I told Lynny right away that it was an absolute honor to direct my country. But I had to talk about it and make sure it was the right decision.
“I just want to play rugby. Sometimes I feel like a politician. I don’t want all these off scope stuff. I just want to focus on my rugby and make sure the team is in a happy environment and a happy place to play the best possible.
“I said to myself,” Is this a good time for someone again? ” The thing for me is who came next, who went to my next coach and with regard to the career, which I was going to continue playing or if I was going to take time to think about national rugby. Once they had announced Lynny, I thought I can do it. »»
When asked if she had planned to retire, Jones said, “Not completely, because I still like the game. But the stress of the contracts and what we had experienced as a team were shameful and disappointing.
“The WRUs apologized and named Belinda Moore [as head of women’s rugby]. I hope what the players have gone through will never happen again. But yes, that [giving up] was at the back of my head.
“It was very emotionally painful. I treat stress and pressure quite well, but many of my players have been compensated physically and mentally. When I saw my players pass, it’s a huge responsibility on my shoulders. You really take it on yourself and you think, “Is this my fault?” How did I let it happen?
“But you look at the situation as a whole and the environment and the situations in which we were … We stayed very tight together as a team through.”
Most elite players are not full -time professionals, with only those who have national contracts capable of making a living only by playing the game.
This created a scenario in which Welsh players were concerned about their future after the deadlock of negotiations.
“I wanted to be fully concentrated by putting my boots and obtaining the best performance of me and the team, but when you enter contractual negotiations and it is not fluid, you have no safety behind you,” said Jones. “You don’t know if you have a one -minute job or not, you don’t know if you are able to pay your mortgage, you don’t know if you are able to feed your family. People see the glamor of rugby, but for a player, it may not be so glamorous. »»
Wales finished at the bottom of the table in the six nations of last year, beating Italy in their last match to win its only victory in the campaign.
Jones hopes, however, that Lynn can inspire a turnaround while he is preparing to seek a third consecutive female rugby title (PWR) with Gloucester-Hartpury against Saracens on Sunday.
“He is the right person for work for sure,” said Jones about his club coach. “Since it was announced, I have been delighted to recover my Welsh jersey. We are talking about results and we are talking about who will win, but a great result for me as a captain, the girls are happy in a Welsh shirt and enjoy their rugby in a Welsh environment. »»
