Rugby: Jones hopes it is not goodbye tonight

By Chris Rattue

Will the real farewell be tonight? Or will Michael Jones have one more battle to go on the rugby field?

The great All Black flanker runs out for Auckland against North Harbour in tonight's NPC semifinal at Eden Park not only aiming for one more shot at a title, but also trying to prolong his career for one more game.

Auckland have already organised a Saturday grand final if they make it that far, meaning never-on- Sunday Jones can play.

But for Jones, the end is nigh. After one of the most glittering careers in the game, he could have the perfect farewell.

Last week's tribute day at Eden Park touched him, but winning a title is undoubtedly the way players really want to depart.

The 34-year-old Jones sat down with the Herald for 40 minutes at an Auckland training this week to give another farewell interview.

But as his team-mates finished their warm-ups, the call of the battle and the team ethic became too strong.

Jones wanted to make sure he was also in his training gear so headed away to change.

As his fellow players walked towards the changing-room, Jones wanted to be there as well.

The interview had to end. Even at the end of his career, the real business on the field is what mattered most to him.

Earlier, Auckland coach Wayne Pivac declared he had even considered leaving Jones out of his NPC squad this season because his form had not been great in the Blues' troubled Super 12 campaign.

But Jones quickly established himself in the Auckland NPC side yet again.

Those crushing tackles and committed work around the fringes, maybe even the confidence his presence brings to team-mates, were just too good to ignore for an Auckland side forging a new era.

Those forward battles, though, were a fair way from the dreams of a young Michael Jones, growing up in Te Atatu South.

He liked to play in the backs and his idols were Bryan Williams and the majestic centre Bruce Robertson - the Counties back who is now a leading light in Auckland rugby.

Williams was an idol to so many youngsters, and his Samoan descent an inspiration to many of the new New Zealanders who are now an integral part of New Zealand sport.

But Jones said the importance placed on his own Samoan heritage has often seemed over-emphasised, given that he also has such a strong New Zealand ancestry.

Jones' late father, Derek's, maternal ancestors - the Gibsons - were among the early European settlers on the Taieri Plains in Otago. The paternal side had settled in Canterbury.

"People have only seemed to find out recently that my father was a full New Zealander. A lot of people still don't seem to know," Jones said.

"Not for a moment do I not appreciate my Samoan side but I am a Kiwi-Samoan who was blessed to be born in this country.

"I think my relatives in the South Island always found it a bit odd the way I was portrayed as a Samoan."

Jones parents met when his father left Christchurch to teach in Samoa, and his two older sisters and brother were born there before Derek and Maina, who was killed in a car accident in Africa two years ago, returned to New Zealand.

Derek Jones died suddenly, in the classroom, when Jones was just four and the youngster was brought up in a house "full of relatives," which he says eased any economic problems.

"I'm sure it was hard at times, but everyone contributed," said Jones, who was extremely close to his mother.

"There were never less than 10 people living in the house and not always the same 10 people.

"Even when I was first selected for the All Blacks [in 1987] I was still living in the garage with three or four others.

"Each time one of them moved out, I did the garage up a bit more. I was the last to leave - I was still there when I was 28, before I got married.

"By that time though, I'd done it up to be a pretty posh garage."

Jones married his wife, Maliena, who was born in Western Samoa then lived in American Samoa, after a whirlwind romance.

Their families knew each other and the pair met when Maliena came to New Zealand to get her wisdom teeth out.

Now, with their 11-month-old daughter, Tiare Maina, they are looking forward to a new stage in their life, with Jones able to look back on a career that has known little else but praise.

The downsides? Well, there were THOSE injuries, and especially the first knee reconstruction.

But Jones, maybe because of his strong religious beliefs, always took them in his flowing stride.

And controversy. Well, hardly any. But if there was one issue that did follow him, it was his decision never to play on Sundays so he could honour "the Lord's day."

So what would he say to a young player now who might have the same beliefs, but also wants to pursue a professional rugby career?

"There were a couple of times when injury struck others and I was on the sideline fully fit and I thought 'this is hard, I can't contribute,'" Jones said.

"But I was brought up this way and it has its basis in the Bible. When your belief is so strong - I had to keep it in perspective and look at the bigger picture.

"I had to make my mind up on the subject when I was 16 or 17 and I'm so grateful to the coaches and players I was involved with who accepted it.

"But I know there were times when I apologised to players [who had covered for me] and some coaches probably thought it was a bit strange at first.

"You don't put God in a box in deciding what you do and don't do on Sundays. I know that I would probably struggle to get a contract now. For a young player in the situation now it would be a case of talking to the right people and praying about it - go to the final word. In the end it is a very personal thing."

So Michael Jones is about to bow out. Players, they say, are fitter and stronger now than they have ever been. But Jones is a case where we might never quite see his like again.