From scrum to rum: Rugby hero’s drink to hit supermarket shelves

Former Welsh rugby hero Alun Wyn Jones surprised Swansea shoppers as they caught him stacking supermarket shelves.

Mr Jones, Wales’ most decorated player who helped win the Six Nations tournament five times, popped into his local Tesco store to help deliver the first bottles and cans of his rum liqueur, Mimosa Rwm Espiritu, to be sold on the high street.

The former rugby great, who retired last year after captaining Barbarians, created a stir as customers queued up for a chat and to take pictures with him in his Tesco uniform on Friday morning.

Speaking to the PA news agency ahead of stacking the shelves, he said: “I’ve played in a few big games in a few big stadiums, but I think an aisle in Tesco is going to be more stressful than a lot of those things.”

He added: “I’ve been fortunate to play sport at an elite level.

“We’re not quite there yet in the elite level of the drinks industry, we’re still in our infancy, but I’m looking forward to going to Tesco, and hugely grateful, for not just this opportunity, but all the support we have had.”

He has created the rum and coffee liqueur with the Cardiff Distillery, having been inspired after his favourite drink, a blend of tequila and coffee was discontinued a few years ago.

Mr Jones said he wants his rum to be a “vehicle” to tell a story.

He said: “In 1865, a ship carrying the first Welsh settlers set off for Patagonia in Argentina in a ship called the Mimosa.

“It carried passengers seeking a new life and opportunities and was soon followed by other ships, which established Welsh-speaking communities in Patagonia which remain today.

“I happened to win my first Welsh cap at the Estadio Raul Conti in Puerto Madryn in Patagonia in 2006 so this gave me inspiration behind the liqueur’s name.

“But when we launched the drink last year, we realised it was 158 years since that historic voyage of the Mimosa – and spookily that was the exact number of caps I won playing for Wales.”

He added: “The important thing is that we’re a Welsh product, telling a Welsh story, being made in Wales.

“I could have had my first cap anywhere, and the fact that I had it in Patagonia and the history of the Welsh settlers.

“Thinking back it’s pretty mad that it started there in a Welsh-speaking place on the other side of the world.

“When that happened little did I think I’d achieve what I have in rugby.”

The rum will initially be sold only in Wales but Mr Jones hopes to start selling it over the border in the future.

Tesco’s local buying manager for Wales, Nathan Edwards, said: “When we heard that Alun Wyn – the most decorated British rugby player of all time – was planning to bring out a ‘ready to drink’ version of his rum liqueur we jumped at the chance to stock it.

“The drink has been available through a few online retailers only but never in any high street store so we are truly honoured to be the first to stock it.

“What we never imagined was when Alun Wyn asked if he could don a Tesco uniform and badge in order to help get the first bottles on the shelf of his local store.”