Welsh rugby player 'blacklisted' from Wales team after coach confronted him over anonymous feedback

Wales Online

17-05-2025

Welsh rugby player 'blacklisted' from Wales team after coach confronted him over anonymous feedback
'I won't be filling out any more anonymous forms, that's for sure,' said Lewis Jones.
After being told his feedback would be anonymous, the former Cardiff star (left) was presented with his scathing thoughts by a member of the club the following season.
(Image: © Huw Evans Picture Agency )
Lewis Jones says he thought he was "blacklisted" from Wales under-20s after being confronted over feedback he gave following a disastrous World Cup campaign.
The former Cardiff Rugby scrum-half, 32, recently appeared as a guest on the Sportin Wales podcast with ex-Wales internationals Alex Cuthbert and Lloyd Williams. Of course, all three of those players once represented Cardiff together.
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Cuthbert was reading out viewer questions and asked Jones: "Why did Lewis get kicked out of the under-20s?"
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"I wouldn't say kicked out," began Jones. "You used to have two years in the under-20s back then. So in my first year we went to the World Cup but it was more like a stag do. It was carnage.
"It was 92-0, it was quite a famous loss against Chicken's (Gareth Anscombe) New Zealand team at the time. Yes, Gareth played for New Zealand. I actually faced Gareth in a haka which was pretty funny.
"Then we went on to lose against Fiji, they flew (former WRU head of rugby) Joe Lydon out I think, I'm not sure what his role was at the time, CEO of the under-20s or something like that. I personally think they were looking for a scapegoat.
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"We actually had to give a feedback form in and they said it will be anonymous feedback. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
"I just put it straight up, how it was, it was a shambles, we didn't treat it like a World Cup.
"I went back to the Blues (Cardiff) that year and I had a meeting with Phil Davies about being professional and stuff like that. And then he pulled out my anonymous form from the under 20s. I was like: 'How did you get that?'
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"He's like: 'Obviously they've given it [to me].'
"So, I don't know whether they had hand-picked it out to see what I had to say. I won't be filling out any more anonymous forms, that's for sure!"
Williams added: "Without chucking you under the bus, you didn't know who Joe Lydon was…"
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"No, it wasn't Joe, it was Roger Lewis or something," answered Jones.
"So you didn't know who any of them were?," said Cuthbert.
"Then again, it showed how much he introduced himself. I think it was Roger Lewis, the CEO at the time," continued Jones.
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"He was out there and he was sat next to our liaison officer, this Italian, Simeone. I said: 'How are you going, Simeone?'
"Roger was next to him: 'Are you a liaison officer as well?'
"And he was like: 'No, I'm actually the chief executive of your Union.' Oh, I've done well there!"
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"No wonder you were off the 20s!," said Cuthbert.
"The next year I got blacklisted against that," said Jones.
Jones has hung up his boots after making 120 appearances for the Blue and Blacks, as well as a stint with Dragons at the end of his career.
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"Yes, I'm retired now, in the real world!," said Jones.
"I'm working for Indigo. I've been with them for a year now, which I'm absolutely loving. When you're rugby players all of your life, there's this big daunting feeling about going into the real world.
"I was quite scared going into it, but honestly, I've taken to it like a duck to water and I can't say enough good things about Indigo to be honest."