Wales Jones made his international debut for
Wales in 1998 against
South Africa. Jones played a prominent role in Wales' Grand Slam triumph of 2005. As a fly-half, he scored the majority of the team's points, his best game being the victory in Paris, in which he scored 14 points including a drop goal and made a 60-metre break that led to Martyn Williams' first try. In the championship decider against Ireland at the Millennium Stadium, he scored another 16 points and steered Wales to their first Grand Slam for 27 years. He was later named fly-half of the championship for 2005. In October 2006 head coach
Gareth Jenkins named Jones as captain to lead Wales through to the 2007 World Cup. On his appointment of Jones, Jenkins said "Stephen has all the attributes to make a magnificent captain of his country. He has the respect and regard of his players, leadership qualities that are evident for all to see and the talent and ability to lead from the front at game time". Jenkins had a change of heart however, as Jones was replaced by
Gareth Thomas as captain for the tournament itself, as Jones was not assured of his place in the Welsh team due to the emergence of
James Hook. In his eight outings as Wales captain, Jones led Wales to only one win with six defeats and one draw. In the 2008 RBS Six Nations, Jones made four appearances in his second Grand Slam championship win with Wales. He scored seven conversions and 10 penalties, adding up to 44 points, despite starting the tournament as second choice to James Hook. In the 2009 RBS Six Nations, Jones made five appearances in the competition with Wales. An improvement to the previous year's competition he proved to be the in-form player, cementing his place as the first-choice number 10 for Wales. Jones almost prevented Ireland from winning the Grand Slam in the last minute of the final game of the tournament, but his 50-yard penalty kick fell short. Jones became the record cap holder for Wales on 26 September 2011 versus Namibia, overtaking the record of 100 caps set by Gareth Thomas. Jones was selected as part of the 30-man Welsh squad for the
Rugby World Cup 2011. He played his 103rd Test against France in the semi-final which Wales lost, coming off the bench to replace James Hook in the 45th minute. His 104th and final cap came in the third-place play-off match against Australia on 21 October 2011. In May 2012, the
Barbarians had hoped to select Jones for a match against Wales on 2 June, in which he would potentially play alongside his former half-back partner for the Scarlets and Wales,
Dwayne Peel; however, both players were ruled out due to injury.
British & Irish Lions Having been part of the Wales team that won the
2005 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam with Wales, Jones was the in-form fly-half selected for the
2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. With four fly-halves in the squad, Jones was involved in just two of the tour matches, starting against the
New Zealand Māori and replacing
Jonny Wilkinson against
Wellington. For the first Test, both Jones and Wilkinson were selected in the starting line-up ahead of
Ronan O'Gara and
Charlie Hodgson, with Jones at fly-half and Wilkinson at inside centre; however, Jones lost his place in the team for the second Test, with Wilkinson taking over at fly-half. Having lost both of the first two matches, Sir
Clive Woodward restored Jones to the starting line-up for the dead rubber third Test, in which he scored 14 points as the Lions lost 38–19. Woodward's decision to select Wilkinson ahead of Jones was questioned by the media, many of whom doubted whether the English fly-half should even have been picked for the tour, having only recently recovered from a serious shoulder injury. On 21 April 2009, Jones was named in the squad for the
2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa. During 2009, Jones cemented his place as Wales' first-choice number 10 and earned his place in the Lions squad. He started all three Tests and broke the Lions record for most points scored against South Africa in the second Test.
International tries ==Personal life==