Megan Jones (rugby union)
.jpg) Jones with England in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 23 October 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Cardiff, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Megan Jones (born 23 October 1996) is a Welsh and English rugby union player. She debuted for England against New Zealand in 2015. She plays for Leicester Tigers Women at club level.[1]
International career
[edit]Jones travelled to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as a non-playing reserve for Team GB sevens.[2]
Despite being a Welsh-speaker and growing up in Wales, Jones made her XVs debut for England in July 2015, playing against New Zealand in the Rugby Super Series that year. She then played off the bench in England's 39–6 win over Canada in the Old Mutual Wealth Series.[3][4]
She was named in the English squad for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland, where she scored the side's opening try (against Spain). She also played in the semi-final versus France and started in the final.[5][6]
Also in 2017, Jones played in the first two matches of the 2017 International Women's Rugby Series playing at outside centre and inside centre.[4]
In late 2017, Jones joined the England Sevens programme full time. The England Sevens men and women's teams were made redundant in August 2020.[7]
In 2021, she returned to rugby XVs as an invitational player for England in the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.
In June 2024, she was named in the British squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics.[8] The team finished seventh.[9]
Club career
[edit]Jones played for Bristol Bears Women until she signed for Wasps Ladies in 2020, where she continues to play as a fly-half and a centre. In 2022, she signed for Premiership Club Leicester Tigers. [10][11][12]
Early life and education
[edit]Born in Cardiff, Jones was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf and began her rugby career at Glamorgan Wanderers, aged six.
She studied Sports Science and Management at Hartpury College and went on to receive a BSc Honours in Sport Science and management from Loughborough.[13]
During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, Jones offered free online fitness sessions for kids. She has also been coaching Barnes Women after being made redundant by the Rugby Football Union.[14]
Personal life
[edit]Jones is openly lesbian, and is in a same-sex relationship with her England 7s and Leicester Tigers teammate Celia Quansah.[7][15] The couple represented Great Britain together at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[15][16]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Included numerous matches played at the 2021 Dubai Sevens event in the 2021–22 Women's Sevens Series.
References
[edit]- ^ "Future Leicester Resident: Meg Jones". Leicester Tigers. 10 May 2023. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ "Megan Jones". www.ultimaterugby.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "The Welsh speaker who plays for England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ a b "RFU". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "England announce squad for 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup". RFU. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- ^ Mockford, Sarah (29 June 2017). "England name their squad for their Women's Rugby World Cup defence". Rugby World. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- ^ a b Rowan, Kate (31 January 2021). "Exclusive interview: Meet Meg Jones and Celia Quansah - 'It's easier to be gay in rugby than other sports'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ Southcombe, Matt (19 June 2024). "Welsh speedster Jasmine Joyce makes history with Team GB Paris Olympics call-up". ITV.com. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Around the Games: Day Four of Paris 2024". Team GB. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "StackPath". www.waspsfc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "Celia Quansah and Meg Jones". Rugby Journal. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "Jones is a Wasp!". www.newschainonline.com. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ Howell, Andy (26 August 2017). "The Cardiff-born Welsh speaker set to become our first ever rugby World Cup winner - for England!". walesonline. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- ^ December 2020, Joe Harvey Monday 7. "Megan Jones Exclusive: England Sevens giving back to the community with online fitness sessions". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Tokyo 2020: Megan Jones and Celia Quansah on rugby, their relationship and Olympic selection". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ Hayden, Jessica. "Celia Quansah and Megan Jones: Rugby's inclusive nature gave us freedom to explore our sexuality". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
External links
[edit]- Megan Jones at the RFU
- Megan Jones at the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series (archived)
- Megan Jones at Olympedia
- Megan Jones at Olympics.com
- Megan Jones at Team GB
- Megan Jones at Team England
- Megan Jones at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (archived)
- Megan Jones at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
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