There comes a time in the career of every sports professional when they are faced with too many good reasons not to carry on.
Alun Wyn Jones is an intensely private person, so we’ve no real prospect of knowing what factors may or may not be influencing him as he ponders his on-field longevity.
He last answered questions about the subject last September, four days before his 36th birthday, when he went on the BBC’s Breakfast show to promote his autobiography. Jones reminded us all that he doesn’t pick himself, and said as long as he felt he warranted his place he would continue to make himself available for his country.
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Having missed four of Wales’ five games in this year’s Six Nations through injury it would seem harsh to form a judgement on that based on the evidence of his 59 minutes against Italy.
Yet the context of his return was more instructive. When Will Rowlands was left out of the starting line-up there was, if not uproar from some quarters, then certainly disquiet.
Welsh legend Graham Price was among those heavily questioning the decision to put the captain straight back in, with no Ospreys game time behind him, at the expense of Rowlands who he felt was Wales' best and most improved player of the Six Nations and a top ball carrier.
In fact, there were enough cries of foul on behalf of the hitherto excellent Rowlands to prompt Wayne Pivac to spell out his reasoning behind the decision to bring back Jones. It was no slight on Rowlands, he stressed, but the Dragons man had played a lot of rugby and would therefore ‘finish’ the game against the Azzurri rather than start it. That privilege, said the Kiwi coach, was being handed back to the former captain.
Wherever you stood on the decision, the fact it was such an issue said much about the shift in the second row balance of power. A fit Jones starts. Period. That used to be the assumption. Not anymore, it would appear.
Which of course is not to say he deserves discarding completely. Of course not.
But that also doesn’t mean it isn’t time Jones took matters into his own hands. Jones will need no prompting, least of all by the media. He’s nothing if not pragmatic and logical about his ongoing capability.
He will seek counsel from those whose opinion he values though. Perhaps he won’t like what he hears from one or two. Who knows?
When the final whistle of the third Lions Test against New Zealand blew on July 8, 2017, few would have bet on Jones, then approaching his 32 nd birthday, making the tour of South Africa four years later.
That he did was a tribute to all the characteristics that mark him down as one of the greats. That he’s still playing Test rugby almost a year later underlines as much.
Jones would not be human if he hadn’t thought of making next year’s World Cup his last hurrah. Watching him withdrawn after an hour on Saturday, France 2023 suddenly felt an awfully long way off.
In the last nine eight months Jones has twice dislocated his shoulder. He’s shown his mettle by twice returning, the first time for the Lions last summer in an incredibly short time, but how much more can his body take? How much more should he put it through in an era when the toll rugby takes on future physical and mental wellbeing is becoming even more apparent?
If Jones were to still be around the international scene this time next year, he would have only former Ireland prop John Hayes for company as someone who has played Six Nations rugby in his 38th year.
Jones has been Wales’ totem for so long. His knowhow, durability, presence, nous and leadership by example has so often been the difference.
But for a while he has been unable to make the hard yards as a ball carrier, currently one of Pivac’s ‘must-address’ areas following six weeks that have seen his team make precious little yardage - Rowlands one of the few exceptions, according to Pricey - and scare very few opponents in the collisions.
Rowlands has ably stepped into Alun Wyn's shoes, being one of the plus points in an otherwise trying campaign. Other younger, bigger men like Christ Tshiunza, Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter and Joe Peard need to step up and help provide the engine room ballast next to Rowlands and Adam Beard, I feel.
None are likely to match the exploits of Jones, well they won't, full stop, but then very few do. In terms of Test appearances nobody has.
He is special, a captain, leader, legend. But 150 caps and the end of a Six Nations could be seen as a good time to go.
The right time, in my opinion.
