Alun Wyn Jones on being a hard man at work and a soft dad at home

Rich (0:18)

Hello there, in this episode, we had a chat over the phone with Alun Wyn Jones. Rugby fans will know who Alun is. He's the Welsh rugby captain, Grand Slam winner, Lions legend, and will be leading Wales at the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

We had a chat with Alun about the kind of difference between being a big tough guy on the rugby pitch and a big cuddly dad at home. And also actually how being a parent at home can actually help you be a bit of a parent in the dressing room with your teammates as well.

Steve (0:44)

We spoke to Alun over the phone, so apologies for some of the audio quality might be slightly hit and miss. Alun is a Dove Men Plus Care Ambassador. For more rugby and fatherhood stories, follow them on Twitter at DoveMenUK or Instagram at DoveMen. Enjoy.

Alun, thanks very much for joining us on the podcast. How's your day going?

Alun Wyn Jones (1:08)

Yeah, good, not too bad. Done a bit here with Dove today.

Corraled some kids, my own kids actually, not all the randomers, into doing a bit. We've done a few shots to camera and stuff just to do a bit of awareness stuff. But yeah, it's been good.

Steve (1:23)

Good, good. You've got two girls, right?

Alun Wyn Jones (1:25)

Two girls, Mali, four, and Iva, just about 16 months now.

Steve (1:29)

So I've got a 15-month-old girl and I've got a three-and-a-half-year-old boy, so we're pretty close in experience.

Rich (1:36)

I'm on a two-year-old boy and another eight-week-old boy, so I'm right in the midst of it. Yeah.

Steve (1:40)

How's the sleep?

Alun Wyn Jones (1:43)

I'm very fortunate that I've got a very, very good wife who does a lot of the night stuff. Don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. We all get the wake up, but oh, yeah, she's great.

Rich (1:54)

She does the lie and share. Don't you have the perfect excuse, though? That thing of, it's my job. I used to be a sports journalist here at The Mirror, right?

Back in the day. And I used to be able to watch football, rugby, cricket, whatever I wanted to watch, because I'd say, Oh, I'm really sorry, but I've really got to watch it because it's my job. Haven't you as an athlete got that perfect thing where you're like, Well, you know, sleep's really important. I've got to recover.

Alun Wyn Jones (2:18)

Yeah. But there's always that response. You've got day off tomorrow.

So it's not, I'm not as fast as that, but no, she's very understanding because she was a pretty decent athlete, well, more than decent athlete herself in her university days. So she understands the whole performance element of sport and the values in recovery, et cetera, et cetera. So yeah, she's very good to me.

Rich (2:46)

That's got to be handy. Talking about the realities of elite sport, I should say here, I'm a massive rugby fan. I used to play a bit of second row, so I'm slightly in awe of talking to you, even though it's only over the phone. So forgive me if I sound starstruck.

But we've had a variety of athletes on the podcast before. We've had Freddie Flintoff, we've had Alex Gregory, who won an Olympic gold for rowing, we've had Greg Rutherford on, who won an Olympic gold in the long jump. And obviously, they're all guys, they all have told a very similar story actually about how becoming a father in a weird sort of way actually improved their performance within their sports.

And I suppose first question for me is, would you say the same thing? I know I've read quotes from you in the past about how fatherhood kind of changed your perception of what you did for a living. But would you say your performance has improved as a result of becoming a dad?

Alun Wyn Jones (3:36)

Yeah, it's funny, when I first came on to the scene, I was doing a law degree and I pursued all and I can carry on with if you like, I finished all my education all the way until I became professional because I never I was my drive was that I was never going to be a professional rugby player, so I had to get something behind me. So I did the law degree and arguably, you know, some of the best times I had on and off the field when I had the distraction of doing something else, fully mind focused on something else, another task and having the kids. It's not a distraction that put it that way. It's a full time job, isn't it? Full time job for mom, part time job for dad, particularly for sportsmen.