John "Bala" Jones was a Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 scrum-half who played club rugby for Aberavon

Aberavon RFC

Aberavon RFC is a rugby union club located in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, although the club's name refers to the older settlement of Aberavon which lies on the western side of the town...

 and Devonport Albion RFC

Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The club was founded around 1915 from a merger between Plymouth RFC and Devonport Albion RFC...

 and county rugby for Glamorgan and Devon. He won just a single international cap, in 1901.

Rugby career

There is little information recorded about Jones, and no place of birth is recorded with the Welsh Rugby Union

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

, though his nickname of "Bala" could refer to the town of Bala

Bala, Gwynedd

Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...

, as this was a common way to differentiate people with the surname Jones in Wales. He is recorded at being five foot five inches in height.

In 1897 Jones moved to Devon, and continued playing rugby, representing Devonport Albion and later the Devon county team. The Welsh Rugby Union, believed that Jones was taking payment for playing and declared him a professional player, which would prevent him playing under the union code for the rest of his career. Jones challenged the decision and was later reinstated as an amateur.

Jones won just a single cap for Wales, and at the time has returned to Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 and was playing rugby for Aberavon, becoming the third player to win a cap whilst representing the club after Dan Jones

Daniel Jones (rugby player)

Daniel "Dan" Jones was a Welsh international rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby for Aberavon and international rugby for Wales. He is notable as being the first player to represent Aberavon at international level...

 and Alfred Brice

Alfred Brice

Alfred "Bobby" Brice was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Aberavon and Cardiff. A three times Triple Crown winner, Brice was known for his tough and aggressive tackling play....

. Jones' international debut was in the opening game of the 1901 Home Nations Championship

1901 Home Nations Championship

The 1901 Home Nations Championship was the nineteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 16 March...

, played at the Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...

 against England. Jones, the only new cap in the team that day, was brought in as a replacement for Lou Phillips

Lou Phillips

Louis Augustus "Lou" Phillips was a Welsh international scrum-half who played club rugby for Newport. He won four caps for Wales and was a talented amateur golf player.-Rugby career:...

, and was partnered at half-back with Newport's Llewellyn Lloyd

Llewellyn Lloyd

George Llewellyn Lloyd was a Welsh international half-back who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby with Kent. He won 12 caps for Wales and captained the team on one occasion against Scotland....

. Wales won the match with an impressive 13-0 score line, but with a disappointing displays from the Welsh pack and Billy Bancroft

Billy Bancroft

Billy Bancroft was a Welsh international fullback who played club rugby for Swansea and a county cricketer for Glamorgan, becoming their first professional player in 1895....

at full-back. Jones was replaced in the very next game, replaced by the returning Phillips.