While he may be older and wiser for his two years playing French rugby, Luke Jones says he needs to get back up to speed with Super Rugby in order to achieve his goal of making the Wallabies’ World Cup team.
Ahead of the Melbourne Rebels’ final Super Rugby trial, against Queensland at Ballarat on Friday night, the 27-year-old lock says the intensity of play as well as training is what he’s noticed most after two and a half years with Bordeaux.
In his 72 Super Rugby appearances with the Rebels before his French sojourn, Jones, who can also play blindside flanker, was noted for his high work-rate.
Australian coach Michael Cheika has already told him that’s something he wants to see for Jones to add to his three Test caps.
Jones got his first taste of Super Rugby since leaving at the end of 2016 in their trial against the Brumbies last Saturday and said it was a big change from playing in France.
“I would say the biggest difference is the speed and intensity of training and in games and I would say that’s a massive difference between Top 14 and playing back in the southern hemisphere so that’s been a big change but I feel like I’m adapting well,” Jones told AAP.
As well as a new coach in Dave Wessels, Melbourne are a vastly different outfit to that which Jones left, with only Tom English, Reece Hodge and Sam Jeffries remaining as players.
In the Rebels line-up, he will face competition from Jeffries, Matt Philip, Ross Haylett-Petty and young gun Trevor Hosea for a starting spot.
He said he’d be happy to play either in the second row, where he spent most of his time in France, or as a line-out jumping No.6, which would be a valuable addition to the Wallabies.
Jones felt he had plenty to offer from his European experience.
“I’ve learnt a lot with the reading the line-out defence as well as a few other ways to call the line-out or moves that I hadn’t experienced before in Super Rugby,” he said.
“It was good to get a broader understanding of what can be achieved from the set piece.”
Reds recruit Quade Cooper is set to face his former team after sitting out the Brumbies trial with a sore knee.
