Sam Warburton has hailed “amazing” Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones as he prepares to break his country’s Test match appearance record.
Jones will win his 130th cap when he leads Wales in Sunday’s crunch Rugby World Cup clash against Australia.
In doing so, the 34-year-old will overtake prop Gethin Jenkins, who retired from rugby last year.
Jones has been a mainstay of Wales teams since 2006, playing in four World Cups and featuring among an elite group of players to win three Six Nations Grand Slams.
“It baffles me how he is still going – not just physically, but mentally as well,” former Wales skipper Warburton told the PA news agency.
“The physical toll on players is well-documented, but to be able to do what he has done however many times he has done it, it’s pretty much unheard of.
Alun-Wyn Jones has been part of three Six Nations Grand Slam-winning sides.
“To keep playing consistently at that top level is amazing. To go to the World Cup and have the most experienced coach in Warren Gatland and most experienced captain has probably never happened to Wales at a World Cup.
“So we should feel very lucky that we have got those two and be very grateful that we have them.”
Jones has led Wales 28 times and started 118 Tests in the red shirt, with his consistency of performance being illustrated when he was named Six Nations player of the tournament last season.
Like Warburton, current Wales attack coach Stephen Jones is a former team-mate of the skipper, and he added: “Alun Wyn is unbelievable, isn’t he? He is fantastic.
“I’ve played with him and he is a wonderful player – professional, driven, clever, intelligent, a smart rugby player. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”
The Ospreys lock, though, will readily deflect personal accolades as he prepares to tackle the Wallabies in Tokyo.
A Wales victory – they have only beaten Australia once in the last 14 attempts – would install them as firm favourites to win Pool D.
If they top their group, then it could open up the tournament’s knockout phase for Jones and company, but a defeat against Australia and potential runners-up progress points towards a quarter-final appointment with England.
Jones will surpass Gethin Jenkins and move on to 130 Wales caps.
“I am heaping the pressure a little bit on the Australia game,” added Warburton, speaking following the launch of his book Open Side.
“If they lose to Australia, then you are looking like a tough quarter-final against England.
“If they can beat Australia and top the group, then it looks like an easier route through to a potential final.
“So, for me, if they can beat Australia I think that will be a real springboard to potentially get through to a semi-final, if not a final.
“There is so much riding on the Australia game.
“To beat a southern hemisphere team away from home in a World Cup, that would be a brilliant statement from Wales, which is what I am hoping they can do.”
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