Alun Wyn Jones, Liam Williams, Hadleigh Parkes and more: World Cup squad special

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Ben James (0:32)

Hello, welcome to The Welsh Rugby Podcast by Wales Online. Before we start, a massive thank you to however you are listening to this podcast. Experian. And the only way to keep your finger on the pulse and make sure that you're the first to hear the podcast is to get notifications. And to do that, you have to subscribe. Why not drop us a cheeky review while you're there? Right, let's talk some rugby. I'm Ben James, and it's a very different sort of podcast today. There's no Simon Thomas, no Matthew Southcomb, no Andy Howell, you're just stuck with me for the time being, but not for too long, thankfully. Like I say, it's a bit different today, been up to see the Wales team at their base today. All 31 players were up for media after the squad was announced yesterday in a Super Bowl-esque style sort of media session. We managed to speak to a few of them. We've got Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Aaron Shingler, Liam Williams, Aled Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Nicky Smith, Jake Ball, all on the podcast. So let's not waste any more time with me. Let's get straight into things.

Here we are with Nicky Smith and Alun Wyn Jones in the barn. Interesting setup this, isn't it? It's different.

Alun Wyn Jones (1:55)

Yeah, they've tried to go NF style, I think, media day. I think it's just easier for everyone to get a bit of access, and obviously you get to chat with everyone, which saves everyone a bit of time, I think. Feel it on the line.

Ben James (2:06)

Feels a bit like speed dating.

Alun Wyn Jones (2:09)

Never had to.

Ben James (2:11)

Thankfully for you boys, you haven't been sort of sat on the sidelines, sort of out of demand, you've been in demand, but you're quite nice for the ego, isn't it?

Nicky Smith (2:19)

Yes, it was. Not all I can say is good, there's a bit more free-flowing, like boys just be a bit more themselves, and you know, it just points in and out, and we can kind of get on with the day, really.

Ben James (2:30)

You probably get sick of the same old questions though, don't you?

Alun Wyn Jones (2:34)

It's not too bad, actually. Once you have them once, you've got your answers down there, and then you can reel them off. But, no, everybody's got their own angle, and it's important that we share what we've got, because obviously access is, as I can say, going to be difficult, because it is a test week that we can't forget that. So we've got a pretty quick test week off the back of a couple of admin days, and then obviously the squad flies out.

Ben James (2:59)

What was it like, obviously, the squad announcement yesterday? You boys would have watched that video. That's how you would have found out. What was that sort of like?

Alun Wyn Jones (3:08)

For me, I've already been asked, are you nervous? Because you were okay with it? No, I've always got that feeling, whether it's a summer camp, autumn international periods, Six Nations, if you don't have those butterflies about being selected, then it's probably time to move on. And yesterday was like that on a next level, obviously, because it's a World Cup, and I mean so much, I'm very happy to be selected. But, yeah.

Ben James (3:36)

What did you select in terms of the survey? Text, phone call?

Alun Wyn Jones (3:39)

Phone call, yeah, phone call. So I just, short and sweet, yeah.

Ben James (3:42)

Had it on Airplay mode, though?

Alun Wyn Jones (3:43)

No, no, no, I did realise that my phone signal was great when I was in the house.

Aled Davies (3:49)

So I almost checked the text, but luckily I was okay, so yeah.

Nicky Smith (3:54)

What about you, Nicky? Just trying to figure out too much, like it is what it is, really have to do hands after, obviously after the last game on Saturday. I opt for the WhatsApp, sometimes with the short tweet, they really want to banjo up the wound, I guess, and put them up and kill it over with. But no, obviously it's a great honour, and it was a nervous day, but I'm just happy to be here now.