Chasing greatness through grief - England's warrior queen

Women's Rugby World Cup final: England v Canada

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday 27 September Kick-off: 16:00 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website and app

Meg Jones' speed, strength, industry and uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time have made her arguably the best player at this World Cup.

For a period, during the early part of Covid lockdown, they also made her one of Amazon's best delivery drivers.

That and her bladder control.

"I was really good, so good," the England centre told her Barely Rugby podcast.

"I was super fast. They wanted to do like a documentary on me.

"But yeah, toilet breaks are not really a thing. You're in at 5am and then you probably leave about 4pm without having to wee."

While she was delivering door to door in her hi-viz vest, Jones, then 23, had already been to a Rugby World Cup final.

She had started the 2017 defeat by New Zealand at outside centre. A year before that, she had travelled to the Olympics as teenager, filling in as a non-playing reserve for the Great Britain team that finished fourth.

But as the pandemic bit and her Sevens contract was frozen, she thought her rugby career might be over

"It was scary," says Jones.

"I'd never had another job in your life and suddenly my livelihood had gone.

"I just thought I was going to be an Amazon delivery driver for the rest of my life."

Online retail's gain would have been English rugby's grievous loss.

Jones was a prodigious talent. Born in Cardiff, she was taken to Glamorgan Wanderers by her father Simon when she was six.

Aged 11, she was part of a Cardiff Schoolboys side who beat Bridgend in the final of the DC Thomas Cup at the Principality Stadium., external

Playing a year up for Cardiff Blues under-15 girls team, her quality still stood out.

"Her ball playing was probably only eclipsed by her kicking display," purred a report from the time., external

England World Cup winner Danielle Waterman watched one of her matches and was similarly impressed.

"I remember her running around in a pink scrum hat and thinking, she's one of the most talented under-18 players I've ever seen," she said.

Waterman was watching because, despite her Welsh upbringing, Welsh father and fluency in Welsh, Jones had a plan for her future that would take her over the border. She had it all mapped out.

Hartpury College, where Waterman ran the best programme for teenage girls in the UK, then Loughborough University, which offered youngsters a direct route to the top of women's club rugby, and finally England, second only to New Zealand in the women's Test game at the time.

Jones' route played out exactly as she had planned.

She made her England debut at just 18, starting at fly-half in a 26-7 defeat by New Zealand in July 2015.

The rise on the pitch though, came against a backdrop of private strife.

Jones' mother Paula, through whom she qualifies for the Red Roses, was an alcoholic.

She was also the senior nurse on a neurology ward.

"She struggled for many years, 20 years, but she was a functioning addict," Jones told Rugby Union Weekly.

"And what I mean by that is, you know, you drink in a day and then go to work the next day and, you know, act like nothing kind of happened.

"It's quite common. But things just progressively got worse throughout the years."

Jones' father Simon died in August 2024, less than seven months after being diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.

While Jones' parents spilt up when she was 17, shortly after she had left home for Hartpury, the shock of his death exacerbated Paula's condition.

"I think my mum was just grieving, grieving the heart loss really," said Jones.

"She went into a massive downward spiral. I tried to get her involved in many different support networks, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, other avenues, but they didn't really work."

Jones, nursing a serious ankle injury, cared for her mother, bathing her, feeding her, promising her that there was hope.

There was for a while, Paula was getting out of the house, staying clean, seeing family. But, once Jones moved back to her own life in Leicester, Paula suffered a relapse. A stray bottle of amaretto – missed in Jones' sweep of the house – triggered another bout of drinking.

This time she couldn't be saved. She died in December.

Jones had lost two parents in the space of four months.

"It's never easy and it never really finishes either," she said, back in March, of her grief.

"You think it passes, but it just catches you in different ways.

"I'll always think that they're there in the crowds.

"I even have moments now where I'm like, they're just at home. I'll go and see them in a couple of weeks.

"But whenever I step on to that pitch or whatever I'm training, I generally don't think about anything else. It's almost like it's my safe haven."

Jones is now a patron for The Living Room - a charity which helps those suffering from addiction in Cardiff and Carmarthen.

In her loss, she has gained something else as well.

Her stellar form this year is fuelled by a fearlessness born of bitter perspective.

"It was the best rugby I've ever played because nothing is as bad as hearing that news," she told the Guardian., external

"Nothing can make me sadder, or diminish my value more than losing my dad, one of my best mates and the rock of our family."

This week, she wept tears of joy as her nomination for world player of the year was announced to whoops and embraces from her team-mates., external

There will surely be more tears on Saturday, regardless of the result.

But Jones knows those are only drips compared to the brutal depths that exist beyond the pitch.