Don't write us off – Ryan (From Campaign Series)

Don't write us off – Ryan

11:07am Monday 8th February 2010

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WALES are still very much in the hunt for the Six Nations title with some “mouth-watering” encounters coming up, says captain Ryan Jones.

But the Newport-born No 8 admits Wales have to come up with “something sharpish” in the line-out if they want to beat Scotland on Saturday.

Again, the line-out was a very poor and worrying aspect of Wales’ game, They lost five of their 12 throws while only managing to pinch one of England’s ten.

It debilitated their chance of creating any real momentum early on, starving their more dangerous backs of possession.

And with Scotland looming on the horizon, the line-out usually one of the strongest aspects of their game, it is an area of serious concern.

Jones, 28, who put in another fine performance against England, said: “I haven’t had a chance to look at the video but we’ll look at our calling process and line-out options to see if we’ve played as we’ve trained.

“We have to come up with something sharpish for this weekend.”

On the positive side, Jones, who won his 37th cap on Saturday, said he was pleased with the way Wales came back at England.

Wales had looked dead and buried at 20-3 early in the second half but gave England an almighty scare.

Clawing back the game to 20-17, had Stephen Jones’ pass not been intercepted, Wales could have pulled off one of the great escapes.

But England killed the game off when James Haskell crashed over for his second try after Toby Flood and Mathew Tait combined well after Delon Armitage caught Jones’ badly timed pass.

“We are not a team who will roll over and die,” the Ospreys skipper said. “We will fight for every inch, every yard. I am very proud of the guys for the character they showed.”

The former Risca Youth and Newport player said he doesn’t think England are a superior side to Wales: “I don’t think we were beaten by a better team than us, but rather by a team who played better in patches. You can’t afford to go to Twickenham and concede 17 points like that. That gulf was just too big in the end.”

Jones insists Wales are still contenders in this season’s Six Nations race. “There are some mouth-watering games coming up with us and elsewhere.

“There is a lot to play for... we’ve got two tough encounters at home coming up next (against Scotland and France on Friday, February 26) and we’ll be looking to get maximum points in the next three weeks. It’s not called Test rugby because it is easy, but whatever 15 plays, will do Wales, their families and themselves proud.”

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