Quotes from Alun Wyn Jones

I look back at all the contracts I've had, and I never assumed I would get another one. Honestly. I don't take anything for granted. Nothing.

That's the great thing about this sport: it's always different.

I'd love to feature for the Barbarians. I'd love to win a Champions Cup, and I'd love to get to another World Cup and make a fist of it: get to a World Cup final at least and see what could have been, particularly after 2011 when Wales reached the semi-finals.

I don't really want followers, to be honest; that's what Twitter is for. I want people who can make their own decisions and look after their own departments.

I'm not the only one that's joined in the Maro Itoje song, to be honest with you!

I don't regret the way I approached things, because otherwise I wouldn't have achieved what I did, but when I look back, I could have enjoyed things more.

I've no regrets. I don't think you can afford to.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could be playing regularly and saying they do not have a niggle. It is the nature of the beast, what you get when you play a lot of rugby: you have to get another niggle to forget about the one you already have.

When I retire, my CV might have a few holes, things I haven't achieved that I would have felt I needed to do, but I won't know if I did need to do them until I retire.

Losing hurts, it always hurts, and it should hurt.

As individuals, we don't sometimes let ourselves enjoy things that we possibly should because of ways you want to be perceived, which is a silly thing as well.

Things come and go - there's win, losses, and injuries, but you get back on the horse - but I appreciate what I've done more.

It is very easy to make athletes, and it is very difficult to make rugby players with that rugby instinct. I would like to think I have got a bit of rugby instinct and have become more of a rugby athlete along the way.

I did GCSE's and A-levels. I did my finals after the Lions tour in 2009 to get my law degree. So I've always had an eye on life beyond playing, irrelevant of the period in my career.

The higher up the rugby ladder you go, the differences between winning and losing games get smaller and smaller.

Whatever you do, whether you're a journalist or a player, you want to see what you can do - that's why you're doing it.

Before I was 'the captain' with the label - because essentially, that's all it is - I was a player, and before that, I was a fan of the game, fan of the team.

I was watching the Five Nations as a kid, I'm very fortunate to have been able to pull the red jersey on a few times, and now I'm able to assist the team, assist the young players coming through, and help the guys who do have the ambition to play more for Wales.

I would like to think I am well aware of what the Lions are about and what they represent, but out of respect for your body and the players who are putting up their hands to be selected, you keep it at arm's length.

I am competitive because it is fun, a mentality thing, and it is something you have to be in this job.

If we have given everything we can, you are not settling for mediocrity because the better team won. Sometimes you have to have that mindset to be able to improve rather than keep telling yourself you should have won.

We are very conscious of our poor record against the SANZAR nations. We've simply not done well enough against New Zealand or South Africa.

A bugbear of mine is bragging rights in regional derbies: it would be a lot more worth to the regional game if we did something special in European rugby.

When you lose, it motivates you to go again.