Former rugby hardman Chris Jones, the only player in rugby history to be banned for life twice, has told how finding God in a police cell transformed his life. Now 35 years on, the 66-year-old has dedicated himself to faith and youth rugby, earning an MBE in the 2026 New Year Honours.
A night that changed everything
It was a Sunday evening in August 1990, and Jones knew he was in big trouble. Trudging back to the cells of Brecon police station, the words of his distraught wife Gillian weighed heavy on his shoulders: "The kids want to know when Daddy's coming home. What am I going to tell them, Chris?"
Up until that point, Jones had dedicated his life to crafting his persona as one of the hardest men in south Wales, backing it up with shocking acts of violence and disorder both on and off the rugby field. But in that moment, he felt anything but.
"I was frightened," he said. "I didn't want to go to jail. I didn't want to lose my freedom. I didn't want to not be able to go where I want, to run through the mountains... and there were no women there either."
Earlier that day, Jones had been arrested and led away in handcuffs after being involved in a fight in The Boar's Head pub in Brecon during the town's jazz festival. He was later charged with wounding with intent and violent disorder, with police detectives telling him they had reason to believe he had stabbed a man during the altercation. It was a crime he did not commit, but he was now facing time in prison.
A life of violence and thuggery
The first half of Jones' new autobiography - From Rucks to Redemption: My Life-changing Story - tells the full no-holds-barred story of that decades-long journey to Brecon police station. The second act is a tale of redemption, faith and deliverance that began in those cells that very night and has endured over the last 35 years.
Playing mainly for Treorchy RFC, Jones became one of the most feared enforcers in valleys rugby during the 1980s. Famously, he is the only player in rugby history to be banned for life twice, while stories of him carrying an axe around his kit bag have become legendary in Wales and beyond.
"Rugby was a different game," Jones explained. "It's a more brutal game now, but it's not a more violent game. Before the days of cameras and mobile phones, it was a case of literally anything goes."
Despite his fearsome reputation, Jones admits he was constantly driven to push the boundaries. He revealed in his book that he considered carrying a razor blade around with him during games just to get an edge.
"Lunacy, absolute lunacy," he laughed. "In my head, I thought this is acceptable, so why can't the next step be acceptable, and the next step after that? It was just the world that I was living in. It was crazy, absolutely crazy."
Finding faith in a cell
With the odds stacked against him in Brecon police station, Jones was overwhelmed with shame and regret. "So many people over the years had said I was going to get into that situation," he said. "My parents, teachers, the rugby authorities - I had all the warnings and I didn't pay any attention to it."
Knowing he couldn't fight his way out this time, Jones had nowhere else to turn. "I just got to the point where I thought 'God, help me'," he said. "I really was sorry for how I'd lived my life and I just said 'God, if you're there, help me'."
After being granted conditional bail, Jones went to see the local vicar and asked to learn more about God. Having tried and failed to understand the Bible while at school, he was instructed to study the Gospel stories and, with fresh eyes, he admits his "mind was blown" by what he read.
"It just all clicked," he said. "When I first read the Sermon on the Mount, I thought imagine if I could live my life like that, imagine if the world could live like that. I thought, wow, I'm in."
Going 'all in' on his faith, Jones gave up alcohol and rebuilt relationships with those he had hurt. So dramatic was the change that his wife, friends and brother Clive - "the biggest atheist you could ever meet" - became Christian with him.
A new purpose in rugby
When the day of his trial arrived, the police offered to drop the charge of wounding with intent if he pled guilty to the charge of violent disorder. Having agreed, Jones was fined and did not face a custodial sentence.
For the next couple of years, he turned his back on rugby, believing it to be the cause of his problems. However, after being convinced to return, he led Rhondda Schools Rugby from 1993.
Over thirty years on, he is still dedicating everything to his role as senior rugby development officer. The schools side has won the Dewar Shield ten times, finishing as runners-up on a further six occasions. Jones has witnessed over 50 of his players go on to represent Wales at various levels, including 14 full internationals and even some British & Irish Lions.
Recent Wales internationals Tomos Williams, Corey Domachowski, Keiron Assiratti, WillGriff John, Cameron Winnett, Liam Belcher, Ben Warren, Shane Lewis-Hughes and Matthew Screech were all put on the path to Test rugby by Jones.
"I'm just very grateful for the life I've been able to live over the last 35 years," he said. "The rugby is just a vehicle, it's a means of trying to help these kids and give them a platform to go on to do other things."
In the 2026 New Year Honours, Jones was awarded an MBE for his decades of work with Rhondda Schools, receiving his award from King Charles III. "It was a fantastic day and the King was brilliant, so engaging and humble," he said.
Jones hopes his book will serve as a message of hope. "From being very, very unfulfilled, I feel fulfilled. I have an inner peace and an inner contentment that I never used to have. I'm very, very thankful to God for that."
