WORLD Cup hopeful Ross Moriarty has been backed to provide Wales with oomph off the bench by triple Grand Slam winner Ryan Jones.

Warren Gatland is spoilt for choice in the back row with his favoured combination of captain Sam Warburton, number eight Taulupe Faletau and blindside Dan Lydiate backed up by Ospreys ace Justin Tipuric.

But former Wales skipper Jones, a member of the 2011 side that suffered semi-final heartache against France, believes that Moriarty could be a wildcard.

The 21-year-old Gloucester man made his Test debut against Ireland at the Millennium Stadium at the start of the month and grasped his chance.

"I was mightily impressed with Ross Moriarty against Ireland," said back row forward Jones, who won 75 caps and led his country 33 times.

"He has a huge physical presence and the guys have said that he has trained really well.

"Ross is confrontational and abrasive; marry that up with discipline and a good skill set and he could have a long international career.

"I would imagine he would be a good impact player and I just hope that he is afforded the opportunity for another run out against Ireland.

"Competition breeds success and Ross would provide that while Justin Tipuric was also excellent against Ireland.

"Then there is James King – there is no-one like him in the squad with his ability to play in a number of positions (across the back row and lock).

"So far we haven't really seen that at international level because he has been a bit-part player but he performs consistently well for the Ospreys."

The idea of playing both Warburton and Tipuric has once again been mooted thanks to the latter's performance against the Irish and the approach of 'pool of death' rivals Australia.

They have played opensides David Pocock and Michael Hooper together in recent clashes with New Zealand but Jones is unconvinced.

"Obviously Australia turned over the All Blacks and that's no mean feat," he said.

"They are both quality players who would make any international side in the world apart from New Zealand, who have a legend in Richie McCaw there.

"But there has been mixed success in the past with playing two 7s – they can cause trouble at the breakdown but the difficulty is getting the right balance for the rest of the pack."

It was four years ago that the Lydiate-Warburton-Faletau triumvirate was established, leading to Jones becoming back-five cover on the bench rather than a starter.

George North and Leigh Halfpenny also made big breakthroughs at that tournament and defence coach Shaun Edwards has spoken about Wales profiting from four years of experience.

"They burst onto the scene four years ago from relative anonymity," said Jones. "The pressure is on to be better and there is a weight of expectation on their shoulders.

"They are four years older with four years of experience so expect them to build on their reputations while I would also like to see the emergence of some new talent."

Ryan Jones was speaking at the SSE #soundsofvictory pop-up shop in London. SSE is proud joint sponsor of ITV's coverage of Rugby World Cup 2015. Visit ssereward.com