Over the next decade, he was regarded as one of the best loose forwards in the world and, at his best, was without peer. He played 55 tests and the total would have been much greater had it not been for injuries and a personal decision not to play games on Sundays (at a time when there were frequent Sunday tests). Quiet and humble off the field, he was dynamite on it. In 2000, he was voted third best All Black of the 20th century after Colin Meads and Sean Fitzpatrick . Coach John Hart, who first selected him for Auckland as a 20-year-old, once called him “almost the perfect rugby player.” Jones set the examples off the field and on as rugby moved from the amateur to professional eras. Return to the Inductee list