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Attack coach Jones insists there’s more to come from Wales

Cory Hill celebrates after scoring a try with Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric 27/2/2021
Wales might have a Triple Crown in their back pocket and a Grand Slam in sight but attack coach Stephen Jones believes they need to be more efficient with the ball.

Wales might have a Triple Crown in their back pocket and a Grand Slam in sight but attack coach Stephen Jones believes they need to be more efficient with the ball.

Wales scored ten tries in their first three 2021 Guinness Six Nations matches, including four against both Scotland and England to secure bonus points.

Next up is a tricky trip to Rome to face Italy before they finish their Championship campaign away to France, where they could be playing for a second Grand Slam in three years and a fifth this century.

Former fly-half Jones is second on Wales’ list of all-time points-scorers, his 917 behind only Neil Jenkins’ 1049.

And the 43-year-old insists there is more to come as they continue to develop under head coach Wayne Pivac.

“I was happy with certain aspects of our attacking game, but we have got improvements we have got to make,” he said.

“It was 24-24 against England and for us to score 16 points in those last 20 minutes was good game management from the boys.

“Our efficiency at the contact area was good which allowed us to control that last period of the game which was very important.

“We are obviously happy to be scoring tries, but there are aspects of our game where we should be asking more questions. We’ve got to make sure we keep working hard to ensure our scanning is better.

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“There are aspects of our game from attack that we have got to make sure we make some big strides on.

“We are a work in progress, simple as.”

Pivac and Jones have a big decision to make ahead of the game against Italy, with scrum-half Kieran Hardy ruled out of the rest of the Championship because of a hamstring injury.

Gareth Davies and Lloyd Williams are available and Tomos Williams is back in the fray after his own hamstring issues.

There is also a positive update on fly-half Dan Biggar, who was replaced against England with a leg problem.

“For Kieran, it’s unfortunate he has picked up an injury,” said Jones. “Where that leaves us with scrum-halves is simple – we have got three left in the squad who are good to go.

“Tomos is ticking boxes and taking part in training which is great.

“Dan has got an injury that he’s nursing, but we are very optimistic for next week.

“We will find out on Monday, but the reports are that we are pretty optimistic that he is going to be available to us.”