LONDON Welsh's Lyn Jones admitted he was doubly surprised after being nominated for the Aviva Premiership coach of the season award.

Jones, the Exiles head coach, who saw his side relegated two weeks ago, has been short- listed in the QBE Director of Rugby of the Season category along with Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers), Mark McCall (Saracens) and Dai Young (London Wasps).

The winner will be announced in a function at London’s Hilton Hotel on May 9 – a date Jones did not have in his diary.

“My first reaction was surprise and my second reaction was huge surprise as I didn’t realise the award existed,” he said.

“It’s not for me to say why I was nominated, but I’m obviously pleased that my work has been appreciated.”

For the first two months of Oxford-based Welsh’s life in the top flight of English rugby, they defied expectations.

By early November they had three wins under their belt and were at one stage 33-1 to be relegated as Sale and London Irish struggled.

Jones said: “The best moment of the season, I suppose was registering our first win against Exeter, while I was delighted by the 10,000 crowd we had for the Christmas game with Wasps.

“But I was always worried about our lack of strength in depth, and once the injuries kicked in, we struggled as I knew we would.

“The most pleasure I got was seeing players making huge step-ups in their game in a high-pressure environment.”

Jones reiterated London Welsh’s desire to stay in Oxford if at all possible.

“There are academies galore in London, that’s why we came to Oxford,” he said.

“There’s a vacuum here in Oxfordshire, with lots of players with huge potential, that is why we are setting up an academy here.”

Jones and some of his players took training at Alchester RFC in Fritwell, near Bicester, after the club won the session in a QBE Rugby Pro competition.

Alchester also took home £1,000 worth of training kit.

Jones said: “All the players really enjoyed it and I hope learned something from the experience – they were pretty shattered after working hard for an hour and 15 minutes.

“At this club level, it’s about enjoyment. “For me I try to help players at every level make the most of their potential.”

  • LYN Jones was speaking at a QBE Rugby Pro event with Alchester RFC, on behalf of QBE, the Official Business Insurance Partner of Premiership Rugby. For exclusive rugby news, video and blogs please visit www.QBErugby.com.