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.
? Is this a bit naughty from Bernard Le Roux?
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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.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Starts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
2 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
2 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
87 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
228 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to comments