Jones prepares for Habana challenge
Cheetah-racing South Africa wing Bryan Habana does not worry his Welsh counterpart Mark Jones ahead of tomorrow's clash in Bloemfontein. Habana, 24, the International Rugby Board Player of the Year with 30 tries in 46 Tests, was famously filmed racing a cheetah over 100 metres in April last year.
And Jones has been preparing for the challenge of taming Habana by attempting his own animal challenge at Wales' Cape Town training base.
He said: "There was a tortoise in the garden, and I had a couple of runs against him and took him quite comfortably - so I'm feeling confident.
"Habana has the mantle as the man who raced a cheetah, and that's hard to beat."
The 28-year-old Llanelli Scarlet is determined to put on a good show against the Springboks, whom the Welsh have not beaten since 1999.
"In modern-day sport, you want to come up against the best in the world," said Jones.
"Habana's certainly up there at the moment. He's had a fantastic season and is on top of his game, so it's a huge challenge.
"He's got raw pace - there's no doubt about that - but he's developed his all-round game as well."
Jones missed the end of the season to undergo groin surgery, but has proved his fitness in time to take on the world champions.
He said: "Ideally I'd like to come into the Test match with more rugby, but that's the hand I've been dealt.
"I knew I might come in short of conditioning, but I'm feeling strong."
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Posted by Wilson – 7 Jun 2008, 4:51 AM
That's quite some training, to run against a cheetah. At least Jones has a sense of humour about it, because I don't think he will do all that well against him!