Alun Wyn: We can bounce back against Ireland
ALUN WYN Jones vowed Wales will bounce back from their Six Nations defeat to England when they travel to Dublin to face Ireland a week on Saturday.
“Hopefully this squad will get stronger after this,” said the Welsh captain.
“I was pleased with the way we played and there are positives to take from this.”
Ireland have won both of their games against France and Italy to date.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland said: “It was important we got a losing bonus point at the end of the game and now we go to Ireland where we’ve had some good results in the past.
“The guys showed some good character to come back into the game in tough conditions.
“Ireland play pretty attritional rugby out there, so it’s going to be a similar game to the one here.”
Wales’ Grand Slam hopes are now over. Gatland admitted his team lost the aerial battle at Twickenham and turned over ball at crucial periods.
Those mistakes must be tidied if they are to win in Dublin. Success there is essential if they are to keep their hopes of a first Six Nations title since 2013 alive.
Jones added: “We were a bit slow out of the blocks in the first 20 minutes.
“Then we got a foothold and we felt we should have got more out of the opportunities we created in the second half with the intent we had.
“We just didn’t have the accuracy and it was a patchy performance given the opportunities we created. We have got to build on those against Ireland.
“We have got two weeks off now before we get into another big match.”