The newest addition to the Ospreys squad says that he won’t be taking anything for granted as he settles into life at the Liberty Stadium.
Ieuan Jones had made a temporary switch from Cardiff Blues on a month long loan agreement to provide cover for a back row that has been hit by injury and international call-ups.
After meeting up with his new team-mates for the first time on Wednesday, at the region’s Llandarcy training base, the 21-year old age-grade cap goes straight into the starting line-up for Friday’s game against Connacht at the Liberty Stadium and he’s hoping to impress in an Ospreys jersey over the next four week’s or so.
“It’s a great opportunity for me and I’m really looking forward to it” Jones said.
“It’s the nature of professional sport that there will always be injuries occurring and when that happens during an international window you are always going to have situations like this when a region needs cover.
“I’ve been given this chance and hopefully I can put my hand up for a game and maybe show what I can do.”
Jones made 32 appearances for Newport Gwent Dragons prior to making the move to the Blues ahead of the current season and he admitted that he’s itching to get some game time. He’s already studying the Ospreys’ playbook and he says that he’ll be calling on some of his friends within the camp to help him settle quickly:
“I’ve been given the calls to learn and there’s plenty to get my head around, so we’ll just go from there. Any game you play for a team like the Ospreys is big, so if it’s LV= Cup or PRO12 expectations will be high. I’ll take it step by step and won’t take anything for granted.
“I played regularly for the Dragons over two or three seasons so I understand what it takes at this level. Once you get that opportunity you really start to develop as a player and you can gain confidence from that.
“I haven’t had that chance this season yet so it’s good to come into something different for a fresh opportunity. It’s a chance I had to take really. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting some game time.
“I’m coming into a team that has been in good form this season and standards are high, so even though the international boys are away at the moment so we’ve all good big boots to fill over the next few weeks.
“There are plenty of boys I know here, from playing at the Dragons from being with the national U20s so that’ll make it easy to settle in and I’m sure they’ll help me to get up to speed as quickly as possible.”