Interview with BBC Rugby Union correspondent Chris Jones
Hello everyone! I hope you’re all well. Firstly, how exciting was it to hear in the news this week that Premiership and Championships clubs can return to non-contact training on a socially-distanced basis? This morning, I also read the RFU have a target date as to when they’d like the Premiership to return! I’m sure this news has bought back some excitement into getting the season finished! What are your thoughts? Secondly, a huge thanks goes to all of you for the lovely feedback regarding the last blog. I was genuinely overwhelmed with all of the kind messages sent. It means a lot to me so thank you.
I’m so excited for you all to tune into this weeks installment of All Things Rugby Union. I managed to get in contact with BBC Rugby Union correspondent and co-host of the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, Chris Jones! We had a wonderful chat on the phone and I do hope you enjoy the write up…A truly top bloke.
Can you please state who you are, what your profession is and what you get up to doing your job.“I’m Chris Jones, I’m the Rugby Union Correspondent for BBC Sport and my day to day job is covering Rugby Union for the BBC across radio, television and online whether in the form of news or interviews, matches on the weekend and also recording podcasts. I also take part in live shows and live pieces for various TV and radio stations across the BBC”.
How did you end up in the job? Have you always wanted to be a pundit? Did you go to University? What attracted you to rugby?
“I’ve always had an interest in sports journalism and been an avid reader of news papers from the age of about 5 so I’ve always had a real keen interest in sport and the sports media. I don’t think I necessarily always knew I’d go into something like this. I was fairly open minded when I went to the University of Nottingham. I studied History and I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d go into. I’d done work for the student university newspaper but equally, I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do after university. I got a job working for the BBC about eight months after I’d finished university. It was a job as Team Assistant in a management office. It was an administration based job ranging from organising people’s diaries to answering the phones and making cups of tea! Once I’d done that for six months, I got a job on the sports news floor for the BBC which was still admin based but the role included answering the phones to reporters and journalists. Then afterwards, I started commentating and reporting from about 2011 and by 2013, I became a full time rugby reporter and then became a correspondent from the end of 2018”.
As many people will know, you’re a co-host on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast. How long has the show been running now and who came up with the idea to put you all together? “It’s been running since January 2017 and we’ve always created podcasts at the BBC in the past but we wanted to make a more bespoke podcast so at the end of 2017, one of my former colleagues who I worked closely with for a few years was a rugby producer and came up with the idea to create the podcast and put myself and Ugo Monye together. We’d set up the podcast at my flat with also my former colleague Patrick and he’d film it all whilst Ugo and I would host it every Monday. Then by the end of 2017, Danny Care came on board to take part in a few shows. He became a permanent member by the Spring 2018 so the three of us hosted it for the best part of two years before Chris Ashton came on board at the end of last year after he reported on the Rugby World Cup 2019. We have regular guests like Sarah Orchard who has been doing a series about a group of women’s rugby players and coaches who have been working on the front line during the Coronavirus pandemic. We’ve taken it to all kinds of places from listener’s houses, to the England camp in Portugal and the World Rugby Awards in Monaco. We’ve also visited the Wales and Scotland Six Nations camps and that’s something we’ll keep on doing because it’s great for us to have that access into those places via the BBC and we really enjoy speaking to the players and coaches. It gives them the opportunity to come onto our show and chat but to also grow our platform and we love doing it”.
Were you a rugby fan growing up because like the lads say on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, you are a bit of a nause!
(Lots of laughing) “To be honest, it’s funny. I think because players are in their own playing bubble, I don’t think they realise how many really keen fans are out there. There’s WhatsApp groups that have fans on that know more about the sport than me and there are people out there that just really like their rugby. There are also casual fans who just watch the Six Nations but there are also (not a huge amount of them) that are really die hard fans which is awesome and I’m definitely in that category. I played rugby until my mid twenties. I was a scrum-half at school and uni and I refereed at university too so I’ve always been involved in the game and played it most of my life and then obviously I’ve covered it too. It’s great and that and Cricket are my two sporting loves”.
What’s been a highlight of yours so far as a pundit? Has there been any standout memories you’ve endured as a pundit?
“One hundred percent. Off the top of my head, commentating on the Rugby World Cup 2019 but the semi-final in particular because it was such a great England win. That was such an amazing experience. The Lions Tour of 2017 even though I wasn’t commentating because we didn’t have the radio rights. The places we went to and the stories we were able to tell was a real highlight. I did an interview with Jonny Wilkinson the last time he played in Britain after he’d won the European Cup Final in 2014 with Toulon. I didn’t get much time with him because he was being pulled away by his press officers but I did manage to do an interview with him which was his last one as a player. That always sticks in my mind as a player because he was such a legend of the game. It’s been an unbelievable privilege as part of my job to have been able to travel to the likes of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan”.
Do you remember the first person you interviewed?
“Weirdly because he’s arguably one of the best players to play the game, my first interview was actually with Richie McCaw. It was in 2010 and I was badgering the producer to let me go and do a few more interviews and he said to me that we didn’t have anyone to cover the All Blacks so he told me to go along to the press conference so I did and Richie McCaw was there so I managed to ask a few questions and came off the back of it with a two or three minute interview with a legend of the game which I was really pleased about. It wasn’t a proper sit down interview but it was still pretty cool”.
Do you ever get nervous or are you just used to the job you do now?
“I don’t get massively nervous commentating especially I know the players, if there’s a good view and I’ve done my prep then I’m not usually nervous because I’m reasonably in control of the situation but I would get very nervous if we were doing a live podcast or a radio show where maybe you’re doing things that are slightly out of your comfort zone. I went to speak at my old school recently and I was incredibly nervous but then wasn’t particularly nervous commentating on the 2019 Rugby World Cup. There was more excitement to commentate on the final than there were nerves because I knew that I had a great commentary team and I knew the players. With commentary, the game really dictates how good your commentary is.You can’t do a good commentary on a bad game, it doesn’t work. You’re completely at the mercy of how good the game is and I’m a really big believer in that. If you let the game sweep you along, then that’s all you really need to do”.
Haven’t you done a live version of the Rugby Union Weekly podcast before? If so, would you do it again?
“Yeah, I think we’d love to do it again and something we’ll certainly look at it because Ugo, Chris and Danny are used to talking to crowds of people and always have lots of stories to tell so we’d have a great time. It was brilliant last time as we had Danielle Waterman and Abbie Scott on, along with Billy Vunipola too. We definitely would like to do it again so watch this space!”I had such an enjoyable half an hour chatting to Chris and I do hope you found the end result interesting to read. Thank you for the continued support and I’ll be back next week. Continue to stay safe and well, Elizabeth x
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