It may be too ephemeral a question to ask Ryan Jones what makes a good captain, but if you have been watching the Wales No 8 lead his country this season, you cannot help but notice that he has been an outstanding captain; so good, in fact, that last week bookmakers rated him 4-1 to lead the Lions in South Africa next year.

Being a good captain is to do with being respected by the players and highly thought of by the coaches. A physical presence helps. Big men can set their jaws and look strong even if they are not. Having charisma has not harmed Jones, either.

His careworn features and long hair have won him a following among women, who voted him Wales’s sexiest man in 2006. “I said to Gav [Gavin Henson, the partner of Charlotte Church], ‘Sorry about this, Gav. Don’t know how on earth it came about. Even my girlfriend voted for you,’ ” Jones said.

The captain of Wales requires the patience of a saint to cope with the demands of the populace of a country besotted by rugby. “My dad’s the original mad Taff, so I’m pretty used to it,” Jones said, giving the impression that it was no big deal for him. And just so his mother does not feel left out, he admitted that she still nagged him to get his hair cut, even though he was 27 on Thursday, stands 6ft 5in and weighs 18½ stone.

Jones, whose humour veers towards self-deprecation, has a deft ability to come up with the right words. Asked on Tuesday what he would say if Wales won today, he said: “This weekend is not a time for words, it is a time for doing. I have no idea what I will say if we win, but the words will come all right.”

He is unusually comfortable in the embrace of the media, something that was first noticed when he arrived to join the Lions in New Zealand in 2005 and after a storming first game he was summoned to be interviewed. “Oh God, he’ll be awful,” a journalist said. “He’s young, straight off the plane, inexperienced at this sort of thing. It’ll be the slaughter of an innocent. In fact, he was brilliant.”

It was no surprise that when Jones was sidelined for further medical treatment to a shoulder (the first came after the Lions tour) he was in demand on radio and television.

In assessing Warren Gatland’s achievements since he became the Wales head coach before the RBS Six Nations Championship, do not overlook the significance of one phone call he received and one he made on Sunday, January 13. The incoming call was from Martyn Williams saying that he would come out of retirement to play for Wales. Gatland’s outgoing call was to Ryan Jones asking him to captain his country.

“It took me about five seconds to realise what Warren was saying to me and I couldn’t say ‘yes’ quickly enough,” Jones said at the time. “I put the phone down and felt ten feet tall.”

Jones has had to face one question more than any other during the Six Nations campaign: how have Wales been transformed from the team who failed to reach the World Cup quarter-finals to the one who stand on the threshold of a grand slam six months later? “The World Cup was terrible for me sitting at home watching,” he said. “I was throwing stuff at the telly, hiding behind the sofa. But that was rock-bottom. It is time to move on.

“We had a huge belief when we came together at the start of this campaign, based partly on the players and partly on the way the regions were playing. We have a rugged determination. We have fought for everything in attack and defence. To be twice down to 14 men against Ireland and still win is good.”

A distinctive person, Jones is a distinctive player, whose style bears little resemblance to Michael Owen, also a No 8, who captained Wales when they won the grand slam three years ago. Owen sought open space, carrying the ball in front of him as he ran so that he looked like a waiter darting down a hotel corridor with a room-service order of piping hot soup.

Jones looks for contact. He invariably receives the kick-offs and relishes taking the ball to the opposition. A weakness could be that he tries to do too much, which may be to do with the fact that, having started rugby as late as 17, he has played only the same amount as someone half his age. But whereas some forwards look as though they cannot wait to offload the ball, Jones looks comfortable with it.

He has grown in confidence and skill week by week of the championship. He was good against England, replaced halfway through the second half against Scotland, better against Italy and, against Ireland, he was close to the form he demonstrated during the 2005 Lions tour. He led by example, particularly when Wales were a man short for 20 minutes.

“I want to lead from the front,” Jones said in his soft voice, peering out from behind a curtain of hair. “I want the respect of my peers. I felt Saturday was my most complete performance so far. I knew I had done everything.”

He will have to play as well again today if Wales are to win their second grand slam in four years.

Keeping up with Jones

Born Newport, March 13, 1981

Height 6ft 5in (1.96m)

Weight 18st (114kg)

Debut v South Africa, 2004; 23 caps

International tries One

Club Ospreys

— He was one of a record six Joneses who started against South Africa in the 2004 autumn international

— A promising tennis player as a boy, he took up rugby aged 17 having been on Bristol City's books as a goalkeeper

— Voted the sexiest man in Wales in a newspaper poll in 2006