What a player Michael Jones was. Fast, a deadly tackler, and strong in the tight play. One of the best flankers to ever play for the ABs. His contribution to Samoan and PI rugby after he retired has been fantastic.
Natural athlete who played in the backine as a younger player and played basketball. You see those ball skills when he takes the ball in the lineout in this clip in training just before 1987 RWC. You couple that with flair, a vision, ball skills, league like tackles with speed and soak it all in humility and you have a complete athlete. I remember watching the 1988 Wales Tour to NZ. He, AJ Whetton & Buck Shelford were just a well oiled machine. I loved that loose forward trio. Collective awesomeness.
A testament to his tackling. A former player was told that Jones was a devout Christian and would not play on Sundays. He thought for a bit, shook his head and said that it can't be true, as anyone who tackled like that could not love his neighbour.
I saw the '87 All Blacks play in Australia.. Awesome. Michael Jones knew where the ball was going to be, and was there to meet it, before anyone else knew it. Simply wonderful player. He would glide into place and play the ball. A master
What a wonderful gifted player 👏,,,when I was in highschool I played in the same position wearing number 7 i looked at him as my role model,,,I got injured later in my highschool years my art teacher told me get rid of the rugby 🏉 do your art,,,to be honest Michael is truly a gift from God,,
14:51 All those years ago and my sphincter still goes tight when I see Jones' leg bend sideways at the knee. How he recovered from that was a testament to the quality of the man.
I’m one of the unlucky people who was born a little to late to witness greatness, RU-vid is a great avenue to watch those moments but being there in that point of time we willl never understand.
He was a very good Number 8, playing at 8 for the ABs in Argentina in '91. Later in his career playing 6 for the ABs. He will always be remembered as a 7 however. Think of 11 you think of Jonah. Think 7 and you think of Jones. Jones over McCaw all day.
That the only one Michael Jones I'm really respect #7 i play club rugby all my life always want #7 for me to follow iceman style of rugby. Ofaatu big doks from use.
I was watching a pretty handy Wallabies team play the All Blacks in the late 80s. We were always hoping the game would fall on Jones' religious day off, because if he was playing the ABs were virtually impossible to beat. He was first to every breakdown and also played liked an attacking centre through the middle of the forwards. Even at that time he was referred to as the best player in the world at that time.
YES,BACK IN THE DAY, BUT YOU CANT DO THAT NOW,was called rucking your opponent, if they were on your side of the ruck or mall and they were in the way of getting the ball back on your side,you could ruck them, as long as you rucked your feet in a forward motion like he is doing.its called earning your stripes, back in the day after the game and you hit the showers,sometimes you didnt even know you had been rucked cause then you would see you had these big stripes down your back.
@@patriciogonzalez9348 mate you have know idea. back before the game went professional, it was 10 times as hard and dirty than it is now. the game now is like Tiddlywinks now compared to back in the day. if you have time check out my other story on wayne buck shelford, he was one hard man,played once with a split scrotom.
@@patriciogonzalez9348 Yep i too am a football fan fan but respect rugby if i have a son i would actually encourage him to play rugby something England in public schools still don't do enough of.
@@craigroberts3868 Hard to compare...MJ without doubt was great but the ruck/breakdown rules were starting to change through this period. MJ was fantastic on the breakout after securing { which he did regularly }but Kronfield had a super natural ability to be on the the shoulder at crucial times to add to his scavenging skills. Ritchie....no comparison!
McCaw and Kronfeld both lacked the ball skills, and sheer athleticism and speed that Jones brought to the no.7 position. His lineout skills were also superior - remember, when he first started lineout lifting wasn't allowed. Technically he was better than both players, however McCaw is definitely the greatest All Black to have played the game, in my opinion.
