Room 101: Lyn Jones – Dragons director of rugby
After a lifetime of drinking so much tea and coffee I’ve now decided to go for quality over quantity. As I’ve got older I’ve come to appreciate how much nicer filtered coffee tastes. When I was in London I bought an Expresso machine from Harrods, for just over £100, and it has transformed my life. I really cannot go anywhere near instant coffee. Once upon a time I’d be a drinking at least five or six cups a day and I’m now down to one filtered cup at the start of the day and that sees me through. When I’m out on the road and I’m not able to get a coffee I can trust I order tea. I’ve thought about going down the coffee shop owner route but when you see how many sales you have to do in a day just to earn a living it puts me off a bit!
TRP verdict: Book yourself into Room 101 old bean.
2. Modern Boots
I’m a firm believer that six aluminium studs and black leather boots have worked for 120 years so why, all of a sudden, have people decided there are better models out there when foot injuries are on the increase and people slipping during matches is now taken as the norm? I’ve just gifted a dozen academy players a pair of rugby boots but they’ve got to choose a pair off the list I’ve given them, which are all black and made of leather. All requests for white ones have been politely declined! I remember when I was eight and my older brother had a pair of purple Georgie Best moulded purple boots with laces up the side and I thought they were fantastic. Sadly they were too big for me to borrow. So I can understand why colourful branded boots are so appealing to young people but they don’t work. Get rid of them.
TRP verdict: There is gold at the end of the rainbow. That’s 2 out of 2.
3. Training in the rain
After a couple of years of wall-to-wall sunshine in Abu Dhabi, I stopped training in the rain on my return to the UK with London Welsh. You can’t achieve a lot in the rain and thankfully it was quite a dry winter during my first year. I don’t think you need to practice wet weather skills: if you’re a good mauling side, you’re a good mauling side. You just need to have the right mindset to adapt and not try and offload as much as you would do on a dry day.
TRP verdict: You’re clearly no ‘wally with a brolly’ but why move to Newport? Come in and keep dry
