Doncaster Knights' wrecking ball prop Joe Jones takes Championship title fight to Coventry

Against Hartpury three weeks ago it was his work in snaffling an opposition lineout that led to Doncaster Knights’ first try and his run at the defence that led to their second, the force of the collision which Dale Lemon inflicted on him with an illegal high tackle echoing around Castle Park and knocking the Hartpury man out of the game.

The stocky Jones barely flinched.

While not being an advert for player welfare, it was the kind of no-holds-barred rugby Jones and Doncaster must show in the second half of the season if they are to gatecrash the Championship’s title race.

Victory over Hartpury may have come from their most complete performance of the season but they have had to wait three weeks to build on it – a gap to ease the player welfare load – and resume today against one of their biggest rivals for the second-tier title.

Coventry, like Doncaster, have applied to the Rugby Football Union for promotion to the Premiership should they come top of the table at the end of the season. They are currently second on 34 points and better-placed to overhaul leaders Ealing Trailfinders than Doncaster, who are sixth and eight points worse off thantoday’s hosts.

It is, therefore, a significant game for the Knights, one head coach Joe Ford and his team have been preparing for, for two weeks.

“It’s a massive game for us,” said Jones. “We’ve come off a big block of fixtures, we had some frustrating results but it came together on that final Sunday of December against Hartpury.

“The attitude was excellent.

“We’re feeling very confident going into the second half of the season. We’ve shown glimpses of it but now we need to be a bit more consistent. We just go week by week and target teams.”

In a career that began in his native North Wales and has taken in spells at Cardiff, Pontypridd, USA, Perpignan and over 50 games for Sale Sharks, Jones actually played for Coventry for just five games at the start of the 2021-22 season following his first brief spell with Doncaster.

Now in a much longer second spell with Doncaster – one of more than 20 new players Ford and his coaching staff have tried to integrate – he knows exactly what is required of his team at the Butts Park Arena today.

“I had a brief spell at Coventry after the first time I was here, so I know what it’s like,” Jones told The Yorkshire Post.

“It’s a big club, a similar one to here with a good fanbase, so we’ve got to go there with a good attitude and have a fast start because if you go there and give them a sniff at the start they really grow into a game.

“Similar to how we played against Hartpury, we’ve got to take away their set-piece because they’ve got a great attacking backline, and if we can do that we’re in a good spot.”

Doncaster go into the game with a record of five wins and five defeats, knowing there is little margin for error in the final 12 games of the season if they are to haul in Ealing Trailfinders, who they trail by 20 points.

Asked to put his finger on the reasons for the inconsistency they have shown this year – winning at Ealing but losing at home to London Scottish, for instance – Jones added: “I think it’s a new team, everyone getting used to each other.

“The preparation and the mentality is absolutely fine, it’s just that when you’re putting 20-25 new players together it’s always going to take a bit of time, and maybe it’s taken a little bit longer than we thought.

“But off the field we are solid.”