Neve Jones: Owning the ‘nuisance’ tag and why size doesn’t matter

It’s all to play for this coming Sunday. The Premiership Women’s Rugby Final comes to town and Gloucester-Hartpury are looking to make it three trophies from three finals. One player who has consistently impressed throughout their dominant, trophy winning years is Ireland’s Neve Jones who has been at the club since signing from Malone RFC in 2022.

The hooker remembers the life-changing moment she decided to move to the PWR very clearly: “I played in Ireland for years but I got to a point where I just needed a fresh scene,” said the 26-year-old.

“It happened to tie in well when Sean Lynn dropped me a message saying Gloucester were looking for a hooker, they’d had a couple of injuries, that kind of thing, so he asked what are you up to next week?

“Coming into the environment that he’s created here with the coaching and the players, I just thought ‘I don’t think I can actually leave here’. I went home for Christmas, and then never left and have never looked back.”

And why would you look back when you’re thriving? Jones may be small in stature being only 5 foot 2 inches, but what she lacks in height she makes up for in determination, work rate and being a thorn in the side of opposition players on the field. And with the emergence of better analytics in the women’s game, the ‘nuisance’ stat is one she owns proudly, being head and shoulders above anyone else in the league.

“I’m not necessarily the biggest or strongest player, but it’s how I can be an effective player and do what I can to bring my skillset to the team and it just so happens to be being a nuisance apparently!

“It’s kind of cool to have a title to it. I’ve played rugby since I was six years old and I’ve always been the smallest player on the pitch, so it’s just how you build yourself into the game. That’s why we’d always talk about rugby being the best sport in the world because there’s a space for everyone regardless of your size or where you’ve come from, there’s a position for you.

“I’ve played quite a way across the pack, I think the forwards are definitely my calling, there is more contact than running – I’m not really sure running is my forte! I always say to the girls in the front row, ‘the front row finds us, we don’t necessarily find it’. It’s worked out very well for me to end up where I am and it all happens for a reason and that’s why I’m at Gloucester, playing number two.”

With the best players in the world, there seems to be a natural understanding of the game and how to manage it; when to kick, when to enter a ruck, the timing of a pass, when to play for territory- something which Jones can relate to when it comes to making the most of her skills on the pitch.

“It’s kind of a feel thing. Growing up, I just did whatever felt right on the pitch and sometimes it was a waste of energy, sometimes it was more effective. The more you mature and the more experience you get playing, the more you learn when it’s worth it and when it’s not, sometimes it’s better being in the defensive line or whatever it is. You can coach it to a certain extent, but I think a lot of it is learning through experience.

“I think a lot of credit can go to my Dad, I remember going out to the little grass pitch behind us and we’d be out practicing from when I was seven, eight, nine. He’s the one who taught me how to tackle and play the game. Even at mini rugby, he put a lot of emphasis into tackle technique and the breakdown, it’s just been ingrained in me now.”

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Another man who has been influential in Jones’ life and career is the aforementioned Gloucester-Hartpury head coach Sean Lynn (Lynny), who will see out his last game in charge of the club on Sunday. Jones is keen to add to the praise the departing Welshman has received since the announcement he will be moving further west to coach his native country.

“Lynny is a huge part of why we’ve been so successful. He’s created an unbelievable, family kind of culture within the club and that means a lot to the girls that we have that family within rugby. I know it naturally comes to a lot of clubs, but I think the culture that Lynny has created has been fabulous and untouched upon.

“We’re a really tight-knit group of girls and when we take to the field I think you can see that. Giving Lynny the send off he deserves would mean the world to everyone that has ever been part of his circle. That would be the dream for all of us and hopefully we can make it become a reality.

“We’ve been really successful the past two seasons and this one was a slightly rockier start but we’re into the final. It’s very, very exciting and the potential that we have to achieve a three-peat is incredible- the belief is definitely there.”

Watch the PWR Final on RugbyPass TV this Sunday, (outside of the UK, Ireland, Canada and the USA).