Alun Wyn Jones refuses to comment on Le Roux incident
Alun Wyn Jones accepts that Wales have “got work to do” before resuming Guinness Six Nations action against Scotland. Wales will go into next Saturday’s clash following a comprehensive 38-21 loss to France that saw them hit a four-year low in terms of results.
It is the first time since 2016 that Wales have suffered four successive defeats, with three Six Nations reversals earlier this year having put them out of title contention.
And France’s five-try effort, inspired by scrum-half Antoine Dupont, was also the most points Wales have shipped to a European team for 13 years.
Head coach Wayne Pivac’s only victories from six starts since succeeding Warren Gatland remain against Italy and the Barbarians, while 15 tries have been conceded across four games.
“There are no excuses of rust from a player point of view,” Jones said, after Wales’ first fixture for seven months.
“We are into a competitive match of a Six Nations game next week. We have a short week to put that right, and that’s going to be our focus.
“I thought our game management was very good in patches, but France capitalised on a couple of turnovers and some loose kicks on the counter-attack, and they got across the whitewash.
“It’s a quick turnaround for Scotland, and we’ve got work to do to get ready for that.”
Wales led 10-0 after eight minutes behind closed doors at the Stade de France, but were then reeled in and overhauled as Les Bleus underlined the threat they pose to Six Nations title rivals Ireland next weekend.
Jones added: “We are very disappointed with the result.
“I thought we were decent in patches. We had a very good start to the first half and probably didn’t capitalise as much as we would like to have done in the period after that score.
“Probably around the 65-minute mark, a couple of loose kicks and they got a couple of tries on the counter-attack and the game ended up beyond us.”
Jones, who is set to break Richie McCaw’s 148-Test world appearance record in six days’ time, was on the receiving end of a forearm to the face from France lock Bernard Le Roux.
Wales skipper Jones did not comment on the incident, but it is likely to be scrutinised by the match commissioner, with Le Roux facing a possible citing.
Pivac’s squad now have to regroup ahead of facing the Scots in Llanelli, when Ross Moriarty (ankle) and Josh Navidi (concussion) are again likely to be absent, while prop Samson Lee departed during the first half in Paris following a head knock.
Elsewhere though, Scarlets back Liam Williams is likely to be in the selection mix after a successful Guinness PRO14 run-out for his regional team on Friday, and there were promising debuts off the bench in Paris for Gloucester wing Louis Rees-Zammit and Ospreys hooker Sam Parry.
Pivac said: “The players will be better for that game, and we needed it before Scotland next week.
“It was hugely important because we’ve had seven months without international rugby. That is a long period of time for anyone, and you saw out there that a lot of our players had had a lack of big matches.
“We need to come out with fewer mistakes. I think we left a couple of tries out there, so we need to be a little bit more clinical with those scoring opportunities.”
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> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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