British and Irish Lions 2017: Alun Wyn Jones refusing to take the plaudits until the job is complete

Much like the British and Irish Lions proved on Saturday, rule a true rugby great out at your peril. While the side were proving they do still have a place in world rugby, Alun Wyn Jones was busy silencing anyone who believes he is ready for the scrap-heap.

The 31-year-old Wales captain faced a barrage of criticism, some deserved and most of it unwarranted, when he was retained by Warren Gatland in the starting line-up for the second Test against the All Blacks. By his own admission, Jones hadn’t put in his best performance in the first Test defeat, and given he was hauled off early in the second half for Maro Itoje, it was expected the pair would trade places and the Welshman would drop to the replacements.

But Gatland kept faith in Jones, his revelation during the week that the lock rarely has two bad games in a row sounding more like a last hope than a belief.

Yet the Welshman is a three-time Lion for a reason. Jones delivered a powerful performance to silence his critics emphatically, with strong running from the get-go and an impressive work rate off the ball defining his performance. The ever-modest second-row was not about to let himself take the credit though, and he was the first to shower praise on the pack as a whole rather than take any individual praise.

“Individual people make packs and when you do your individual role in that you get a complete pack,” Jones said after Saturday’s 24-21 victory at Westpac Stadium in Wellington. “For the large part there was a lot of that, particularly in the first half.

“If you look at the games we’ve played previously, probably the Crusaders game particularly we showed elements of what we can do as a pack. We had to answer questions again and on the back of those comments last week, I felt we did that.”

Both Jones and his second-row partner, Maro Itoje, were instrumental in securing forward momentum in contact with the All Blacks counterparts, and on more than one occasion it was the latter’s name that rang out around the Cake Tin, with Lions fans adopting the ‘Oh Maro Itoje’ chant that is regularly sung by Saracens supporters to the tune of The White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’.

“I did (hear the fans chants),” said Itoje. “Obviously it’s nice but I was fully concentrated on the game at the time so I can only really enjoy it now. [I’m] very honoured to be a part of this team. We’ve achieved something pretty good, but it’s only half-time. It’s 1-1 and we’ve got a big week ahead.”

Itoje’s sentiments were echoed throughout the squad from the top down, with Warren Gatland admitting that while they have earned respect with the victory, they have not yet conquered the All Blacks. Jones was another who stressed the importance of the squad focusing on the challenge ahead, although he did make a point of ensuring he enjoyed the feeling of getting his first-ever victory over New Zealand after wasting career highlights in the past.

“At this stage of the tour we have to enjoy the moment, but it’s a level series which is all it is at the minute,” Jones said. “Today was pretty big, I said that before and I’m sure the same thing will be raised throughout the week. We’ve really got to make sure we enjoy it because I’ve had similar occasions before and probably not enjoyed it as much as I can. We’ll get the best out of everyone if we do enjoy it.

“Work sometimes becomes an obsession doesn’t it? So we’ve just got to make sure we enjoy it.”