Red Roses' resilient Meg Jones on her journey through grief
England and Tigers centre Megan Jones chats new squad members and dealing with grief, as well as this weekend's penultimate round of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations at her home stadium.
Scoring amazing tries in the Red Roses’ unbeaten campaign, the dynamic speedster, dubbed Magic Meg, made her England debut in 2015, earning 23 caps to add to her England Sevens accomplishments. And she’s had to draw on all her resilience after both her parents died within just four months last year.
She’s very at home at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium, saying: “When I arrived at Leicester Tigers it had that proper old school club vibe which I loved because growing up that was something I valued in the game: the community, the friendships, and all the history that came with rugby.
“The welcome as well from the fans was amazing, particularly from the women’s side. I thought this is going to be a good place for me.”
With England hosting the Women’s World Cup, Meg wants to spread awareness of women’s rugby and attract more players and fans nationwide.
“For us to grow this game, we need to touch base with the community and showcase rugby in different areas. Mitch [John Mitchell] speaks to us a lot about representing England even when we’re in coffee shops, in lifts, chatting to someone, just make people aware we’re here. I think that’s really important because we want to be heard and be seen.”
This is a particularly close Red Roses squad and Meg has been delighted to see her friend Abi Burton becoming part of it.
“We met at sevens when she was 18 and coming into the set up along with the likes of Helena Rowland and Ellie Kildunne. They had such a desire to work hard and put their name in the ring.
“Abi is consistent. She wants to be the best and compete hard and expects a lot from herself too. So, from a friendship point of view, you want to support that because she’s authentic.
“We gave her some stick, of course, when she was the youngster, but she grew massively throughout the programme and her experiences in recent years with her illness just show the sort of character she is.”
After competing in the Olympics in 2021, Burton suffered a life threatening brain disease.
“It was the first time we’d experienced as a group any sort of real-life adversity. We have injuries, but with Abi’s illness we had no control and that was the first time that we sat there and just thought ‘what can we possibly do?’.
“We could only be there for her when she came out of hospital. It was a stressful time and hit some harder than others. I’m a pragmatic person and very positive, solution focused, whereas Celia, my other half, is very empathetic and probably felt it more than I did. I also think I didn’t realise how bad it was at the time.
“It was a frightening period. Abi doesn’t remember any of it. Everyone was upset and sad and she didn’t understand. It bonded us back together and gave us some perspective on life which is important.”
Keeping a positive perspective has been particularly challenging for Meg, who grew up in Cardiff with her parents Simon and Paula and two siblings, and last year lost both parents.
“My dad got diagnosed with lung cancer last January, in 2024, and then he passed in August, while my mum was battling alcohol addiction and passed away in December.
“I’m still grieving, I think the process never stops. There are loads of elements you go up and down with, and I’m still in that mix.
“But I am grateful to be part of the rugby community. The RFU have been amazing in supporting me, as well as all my friends and Celia, they’re all amazing, and I feel like being vulnerable has allowed me to grieve properly.
“I want to wear everything on my sleeve as I think it’s important for people to see that, particularly in this profession. People may put on a stern face but some days you’re not going to feel 100 per cent. It’s really good self-awareness to be able to move on, and even if you don’t actually move on you learn to deal with it and the grief."
“But I feel blessed with the amount of people that have helped me, like Kayleigh Powell, one of the Welsh girls, who took in some of my mum’s cats. My friends in Cardiff also took me in and went to see my mum when she was grieving, and they really supported me in that journey. I owe a lot to everyone for helping me.”
Today as she gets her 24th cap Meg will draw on her parents’ support. "It is just about seeing them in a different light. I will always think they are in the crowd, cheering me on like they always do."
