‘We’ve got work to do ahead of Scots tie’

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 fouryear 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 counterattack, 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, to be honest.”