Former New Zealand rugby union player, the Kamo Kid, Ian Jones is in high demand as one of the nation’s leading Rugby speakers.
Previous experience
Ian comes from the Whangarei suburb of Kamo, and has always been known as the ‘Kamo Kid’. In 1990 Ian made his debut for the All Blacks, against Scotland at Carisbrook in Dunedin in which he scored a try. By coincidence, in 1996, also at Carisbrook and also playing against Scotland, he celebrated his 50th cap with another try. He played his Super 12 rugby for the Chiefs and his NPC career for North Harbour.
Ian was a casualty of criticism in earlier years, due to his perceived ‘lack of bulk’ to become one of New Zealand rugby's greatest ever locks.
In 1999 he left the New Zealand game to play for the English club Gloucester. When he retired, he was the most capped All Black lock with 79 tests. During his 9 years in the All Blacks he played 35 consecutive tests.
Current work
Ian returned to New Zealand in 2002, after retiring from the game, and is now a regular television commentator with Sky TV.
Accolades
In the 2010 New Year Honours, Ian was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby.
If you are looking for a down to earth, personable and entertaining rugby speaker or anecdotal dinner speaker - look no further than Ian Jones.
Ian assessed the crowd well and was very entertaining. The audience warmed to him and appeared to hang off his every word. After the formalities Ian was very personable with the audience. ... keep reading Unitec New Zealand
Our audience thoroughly enjoyed having Ian speak and mix with them afterwards.
Our expectations were exceeded with Ian!
Ian was very entertaining - the audience enjoyed him.
Ian Jones was extremely well received by our audience across five events. Our audience is diverse and Ian tailored his speaking beautifully to the brief we provided ensuring delegates thoroughly enjoyed his address, rating him very highly in the questionnaire we ask them to complete at each event. Ian’s easy-going manner made him a pleasure to deal with from an organisers point of view. His willingness to engage with our customers before, during and after each event ensured he was a very popular choice of speaker.
Ian Jones was fantastic to deal with and he did an outstanding job on the auction, helping raise $15,000 to St John from the lunch which was an amazing effort! It would have not been that much if it wasn't for the assistance of Ian Jones. I would highly recommend him as an MC to anyone.
Ian was amazing! Very engaging and the group were very excited to speak with him afterwards during morning tea.
Ian spoke very well, off the cuff and related well to the audience. He followed the brief we discussed and kept over 300 quarry delegates engaged and entertained with his anecdotes and insightful comments. His presence nicely complimented an excellent conference welcome dinner that we sponsored.
Ian was the MC for our 2017 Conference and wow, what an MC! Not only did he ensure the smooth running of the event, he regaled the delegates with stories from his rugby days and good humour. Ian was happy to mix and mingle with the delegates at break times adding fantastic value to the event.
Ian’s stories were captivating and he spoke in a very genuine manner about how he achieved success by setting goals and the mindset required in striving to be the best.
Friendly, charming, good humour, entertaining. Very professional. Even those who don't follow rugby could relate to him and his anecdotes. Would have booked him to speak longer if our schedule permitted it. A perfect end to our event.
Ian was thoroughly enjoyable to listen to, and well received by all that attended.
Ian is the consummate professional and he is also incredibly personable, easy-going and low-maintenance at the same time which makes him a very rare breed indeed. He was an absolute hit with our 380 guests and he was the perfect keynote speaker for the night we had envisioned for our members. Ian's genuine excitement for our Club's milestone was thoroughly felt and appreciated. Ian is authentic and down-to-earth, and he was just as engaging on the stage as he was in the one-to-one contact he shared with so many of our Club's people. Ian is clearly a legendary figure to this day for good reason.
