Darlington Mowden Park are delighted to announce Will Jones as our 1st XV captain for the upcoming National One season. Named Players' Player of the Season for 2022/23, the Welshman takes over the role as he enters his third season with the club. Asked about taking on the captaincy, Jones said: “It’s an honour. I’ve enjoyed my first 2 seasons here and I think the rugby has gone really well. However I think as a team we can build to potentially end up with a better result this season. We’ve got some new faces now and we’ve brought in a couple of youngsters who are keen, so I feel that hopefully this season we can push on to be a better squad towards the end of the season.”

The 25 year-old takes on the role from Ollie Hodgson, who will continue to play an important part in squad: “I’m very happy to lead the boys this season. We’ve got a strong leadership team around myself especially with Ollie being involved, he’s a really influential figure in the team so that will be really handy having him alongside me.”

Since joining the club in 2021 Jones has been an integral part of DMP's back row, making 44 appearances and missing only a handful of games in the process. Asked about his own captaincy style, he added: “I like to lead from the front, I don’t over-speak and hopefully what I say to the boys means something. I’ve always enjoyed being a captain with my time with Ospreys and Wales in the age grade stuff, so I do enjoy that role. Hopefully that reflects in my performances as well this season.”

DMP Director of Rugby Garry Law commented: “We were very impressed with Will’s leadership skills when asked to cover this role for large parts of last season when Ollie was out injured. Ollie has been a fantastic captain for a good number of years and will naturally still have a huge influence on how we operate as a team.”

“Jonesy is another person who lets his actions do the talking and has the respect of his teammates. We are looking forward to seeing his leadership skills grow even further over the next season.”