Jones at the heart of Red Roses World Cup charge

Don’t doubt Megan Jones’s passion for the Red Roses cause at this Rugby World Cup.

Perhaps the least committed thing the Cardiff-born, Welsh-speaking Jones does on a rugby field is sing the national anthem – after that she’s almost maniacal.

She’s the heartbeat of John Mitchell’s team, her spirit and attitude the embodiment of their warrior mentality.

If Ellie Kildunne’s skills, scores and set-up play dominated the headlines, it was Jones who laid the foundations for England’s 69–7 win over the United States.

While her team-mates took time to work through the gears, Jones was at full speed from the whistle, showing her versatility by starting at centre before switching to fly-half.

American captain Kate Zackary made no secret of her plan for dealing with her PWR team-mate at Ealing, claiming: “It doesn’t hurt as bad if you try to hit Meg first.”

She might regret mentioning that to Georgie Perris-Redding, who was flattened by a shuddering Jones hit that set the momentum for an early score.

🗣️ "There's obviously been some great foundations built in previous seasons, being competitive and competing against the top four teams - now the next step is to be a part of that."

Hear from Meg Jones for the first time following her move to Trailfinders Women! pic.twitter.com/4X8L2PXW98

— Trailfinders Women (@TrailfindersW) April 23, 2025

“We can be a lot better. We want to be ruthless and I told the girls we could have scored a few more,” said Jones.

“We are leaning into this being a home World Cup – we need to put on a show. We want to be ambitious and keep the ball alive as much as possible. We just need to be relentless against teams and really build pressure on them.

"There were things we could have done better but I thought some of our rugby was beautiful.

"We just need to improve our last pass, sometimes we just need to be a bit more patient. We are getting into the right areas but perhaps we can be more ruthless.

"We are here to win – it’s not about individuals or what the scoreline looks like.

"We’ve got depth and we’re still looking at combinations. We’ve a long way to go and we’ll need to bank on everyone in the squad."

Mitchell will ring the changes for Saturday’s match against Samoa in Northampton, expecting to get every player in his squad some action.

The Pacific Islanders were steamrollered 73–0 by Australia, and you must fear what lies ahead at Franklin’s Gardens, with the Wallaroos scoring on virtually every visit inside their opponents’ 22.

That means Jones – whose dad, Simon, and mum, Paula, both died last year – may sit this one out. But if called into action, don’t expect her to hold back.

“I’ve always led with my heart. I’ll always be passionate about what I do, and now that means a little bit more firepower with my mum and dad," she added.

"As soon as I step on that pitch, all I think about is rugby. That’s probably one of my strengths – I don’t tend to think too far beyond that.

"I always lead with passion and pride. That’s what I’ll continue to do in whatever game we play, against whoever we face."