Lyn Jones has always considered himself a lucky man to have lived the life he’s lived.
But that’s never been more the case than right now.
In April of last year, the former Welsh international and long-time coach was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
That was the beginning of a hugely challenging period for him, both mentally and physically.
But, happily, after successful treatment he is now moving forward and looking ahead to the rest of his life.
So much so that’s he keen to get back into coaching, having completed a three-year stint at the helm of the Russian national team.
Jones has kept what he has been through on the health front very private up until now.
But he has decided to speak on the subject now because he wants to increase awareness about prostate cancer, which is so prevalent among men.
He is looking to raise money for research into the disease by setting up a JustGiving page and has plans for future fund-raising walks.
When we meet for a coffee at a cafe overlooking Aberavon beach, the former Ospreys coach speaks honestly about the symptoms that set the alarms ringing last year.
“I had changes to my waterworks and raised PSA levels, which is a prostate specific blood test,” he explains.
“A typical man, I was a bit lazy and saying I don’t need to do anything about it and I would be fine.
“But my wife kept pushing and pushing and got me an appointment at the hospital and it all took off from there really.
“The urologist said I needed to go in for a biopsy and he phoned me up in the April to tell me the bad news.
“It had showed up positive and there was a lot more there than they had anticipated.”
It was then a case of putting himself in the hands of the medics, both at Neath-Port Talbot Hospital and in Cardiff.
“I will say every step of the way, they have been unbelievably professional and accurate in everything they said,” he said.
“The advice and the help I was given was just so good.
“It’s no different to a scrum coach or a maul coach. They are specific and that’s what they do every day for a living and they are very good at it.
“Not just the doctors and surgeons, but the nurses. They are specific to this type of cancer. I was blown away by how machine-like the whole process was.
“I was comfortable and trusted the whole process.”
Jones was also thankful for the support he received from family and friends.
“My wife, Helen, was the driving force behind everything,” he said.
“It’s wonderful when you get support from friends and family.
“They are affected and upset, but they have been so supportive.
“The Russian Rugby Union were very supportive too. They were outstanding in terms of giving me time off to travel back and fore.”
Jones underwent his treatment over the summer, back home in Wales.
“So many people have had operations canceled due to Covid taking priority,” he said.
“But there was a window of opportunity when the situation changed with Covid last summer, so I was straight through.
“If it had been any other time during the pandemic, it would have been difficult.
“I am very, very lucky. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
The 57-year-old continued: “I kept it very private leading up to my treatment.
“I wasn’t open at all. I didn’t want to talk about it.
“If people knew, it meant you would spend the day talking about cancer and I didn’t want to do that.
“I knew what I had, I knew where I was going, I had my dates.
“I had a job and a life to get on with and I would deal with my treatment when the time was right.
“The day after my treatment, I texted people to say this is day one of recovery, this is what I’ve had, look, be careful.
“I couldn’t get over how interested people were to find out symptoms and how to go about getting tested.”
So how is he feeling now?
“2021 was difficult,” he admits.
“Recovering from that has taken it’s time.
“I am pretty tired, mentally and physically. I just need some time to myself to recover.
“But the good thing is there were no secondaries.
“My cancer was held in the prostate, so that’s a positive sign. I was early getting it treated and it hadn’t spread.
“I was just so lucky there was a break in Covid and I was able to have my treatment successfully and uninterrupted.
“I am moving forward with my life now.”
The former Neath and Llanelli flanker admits the whole experience has really opened his eyes.
“What really stood out for me subsequently is how ignorant everybody is,” he said.
“This particular cancer is so common with men.
“One in eight will suffer from it, but if your sister or mother have had breast cancer, your chances of having prostate cancer move from one in eight to one in three.
“So education is the key.
“All men have an enlarged prostate. Your prostate keeps on growing. It starts off the size of a walnut and it can grow to a cricket ball sometimes.
“I said to the doctor what was mine and he said it was a tomato.
“I asked him what was his biggest and he said he’d had a cricket ball.
“What I would say to all people is please, improve your education.
“Find out more. It’s all about building up that awareness.
“Get to know more about this particular type of cancer because it is very common for men. You can be 40 getting prostate cancer.
“Just look out for changes in your stream when you are peeing.
“They refer to the 50s as snipers’ alley and it’s certainly true.
“You get all sorts of challenges and your health starts to creak.
“You’ve got to look after yourself and you’ve got to be lucky.
“I was lucky and I’m very, very grateful.
“I want to support Prostate Cymru now and I am going to help them raise funds this year by doing some walks.”
Jones is back based in Tonna, just outside of Neath, with his 40-month stint in charge of Russia having come to an end.
“The Russian Rugby Union have done wonderful things for the game in the country, expanding the league, getting it on TV,” he said.
“At the start of 2021, we came close to Georgia and beat Romania. I thought, right, we are starting to move forward here.
“But it fell back to square one.
“Covid has really held things back. You had games called off, players not available.
“We were the oldest team at the 2019 World Cup and we needed to modernise and refresh.
“We just haven’t had time, we haven’t had games. It’s been so frustrating.
“Could I have stayed? I don’t know to be honest. Maybe, maybe not?
“I just felt it was the right thing for me to stand down.
“The last 12 months or so have been incredibly difficult, with the illness as well.
“It was just impossible what they wanted to achieve, which was qualification for the 2023 World Cup. There is little chance.
“They are as emotional and proud as any country about their rugby, but the journey they must take is not an easy one.
“Graham Henry and Steve Hansen realised Wales had to go back a step before going forward and that’s just exactly how I see Russia at the moment.
“There is so much enthusiasm and so much want for them to do well.
“But high performance doesn’t just mean what’s happening on the field, but off the field as well.
“They are going to have to bite the bullet at some stage and people are going to have to start putting the country first in front of their clubs.
“Steve Hansen said everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one is prepared to die and that’s so true of rugby in Russia.
“Everybody wants Russia to win, but the clubs come first and that’s got to change.
“That’s exactly how it was in Wales.
“Russia is still stuck in that period Welsh rugby was in back in the late 1990s.
“I just wanted them to see the future.”
That sees our conversation turn to Jones’ memories of being at the sharp end of rugby in Wales during the tumultuous period that took in the game going professional in 1995 and then regional in 2003.
“We went professional without understanding what professionalism was,” he said.
“We didn’t have a clue what was happening. We all struggled.
“It was a really difficult time.
“I couldn’t add up the numbers personally, I didn’t understand how it was going to work.
“There were appalling standards in our national team and we all had a responsibility.”
Then, in 1998, came a sea change as Graham Henry took over at the helm of Wales.
“I was Neath coach at the time,” recalls Jones.
“Graham came along, got paid £5,000 a week, and called everybody in Welsh rugby useless and he was right, we were!
“You just don’t like being called it. But feedback, as they say, is the breakfast of champions.”
In terms of the move to regional rugby, Jones was right at the vanguard as coach of the newly formed Ospreys.
“At Neath, we had been trying to finish as high up the league as we could and all we were doing was stealing everybody else’s players,” he said.
“You had inflation of wages without improving standards.
“We were going into Europe and getting absolutely slaughtered by French and English teams.
“It was when Wales lost to Ireland by 50 points in 2002, in Graham’s last match, that’s when the penny dropped for me.
“My son, Luc, was eight and sat down to watch the game very excited.
“After 20 minutes, we were just blown away and my son got up and began to cry.
“He stormed through the house and sat stamping his feet on the stairs.
“That was really when the penny dropped for me. What I was witnessing here with Wales was a reflection on all of us and my thinking changed.
“It was obvious we had to centralise our resources to be able to compete, just to have a chance.
“And did it work? Yeah, it bloody well did.
“The result of that was Grand Slams, so I think it was a success.
“The regions were competing as well during that period, up until about 2010, winning trophies.
“It was really exciting with some of the big name players we had.
“I don’t know what’s happened in recent times.
“I haven’t been in the game to understand what has gone on.
“But I was heartbroken the other week seeing our sides hammered by Scottish teams.
“Maybe it’s gone too far the other way from how it was in the 1990s, in that everything is about Team Wales and, as a result, the regions miss out.”
So what next for Jones on the rugby front?
After some 25 years in coaching, has he had enough?
“No, not at all,” he says, while nodding his head!
“I have been coaching since 1995.
“My first job was with Neath. We won the league and it’s been downhill ever since!
“I look back and I cringe at some of the things I did.
“Inexperienced coaches can sometimes be a little bit over the top about unimportant issues.
“But I also did a lot of good and a lot of innovative things in terms of how to teach the game and how to play effective rugby.
“Sometimes I look back and think should I have not focused on developing players, but just focused on developing Lyn Jones.
“I would like to carry on coaching. I would like to work.
“I enjoy coaching and I enjoy teaching. I’m good at it.
“I enjoy traveling and since my time with Ospreys, I have been on the road for 13 years.
“Abu Dhabi, London, Newport, Namibia and Russia.
“It’s been a bloody ball.
“I’ve really enjoyed it and met fantastic people. I’ve made really good friends all over.”
On the health front, Jones will undergo blood tests every six months, but other than that it’s business as usual.
“It’s something that has happened,” he said.
“I am not the first, I am not going to be the last, I am just one of the lucky ones.
“Here I am and I am looking forward to the rest of my life and just getting ready for the next challenges.”
* You can check out Lyn Jones' JustGiving page here for more details of his fundraising for Prostate Cymru. He is aiming to trek Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, and Machu Picchu, Peru, to raise funds for future projects that can enhance prostate treatments.
On the page, Jones says: "Every donation can make a huge impact, giving men in Wales the best possible treatment and support."
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