David Hands talks to Wales fly-half Stephen Jones about the difficulty in translating Lions form in to domestic competition in The Times.
"Stephen Jones has a simple response when questioned about why the Lions’ playing legacy from the summer has not spilled over into the domestic game this season. “You come back to a different group of players, different coaches, different philosophies,” the fly half said, and the transposition of styles is not easily made.
"Nevertheless if one of the four home unions is able to make that step during this month’s international programme, it should be Wales, who play New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Four of their coaches, their conditioner and technical analysts, were with the Lions in South Africa as were such key individuals as Jones himself, Jamie Roberts, Gethin Jenkins and Martyn Williams.
“The Lions played a style that suited the individuals who were there,” Jones, 32 next month, said. It is also, to a degree, the style that should suit the Scarlets, his regional team, and Wales. Nor, of course, are the Springboks on Wales’s playing schedule: New Zealand, fresh from beating Australia in Tokyo, will be followed by Samoa, Argentina and Australia and the game plan will be amended accordingly."
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