Jones keeping Wales grounded
February 06, 2012 12:57:57 UK
Wales number eight Ryan Jones believes it is too early to be talking about Grand Slams and would rather his team-mates focus on their next Six Nations clash with Scotland on Sunday.
Ryan Jones was inspirational in Wales' last two Grand Slams.The Dragons are 1.36 to complete a third Grand Slam success in eight years after they produced a dramatic turnaround to overhaul Ireland in Dublin.
The 23-21 victory was a hard-fought one as Wales had to spend ten minutes with 14 men after Bradley Davies was sin-binned in the second half, Leigh Halfpenny kicking the winning penalty as Warren Gatland's men did the double over Ireland after knocking them out of the World Cup.
Next up for Wales is a home game with Scotland, who were desperately disappointing against England on Saturday, losing the Calcutta Cup clash 13-6.
Having been part of Wales' Grand Slam successes in 2005 and 2008, Jones is keen to play down talk of the 2012 squad repeating those triumphs, insisting he wants to take the championship one game at a time.
We're a bit early to talk about Grand Slams, we're only one game in.
Ryan Jones
"We're a bit early to talk about Grand Slams, we're only one game in," said the Ospreys forward.
"It is not about resting on your laurels, it is about building on the confidence we've gained from this."
Wales do have a number of concerns with their forwards ahead of Sunday's game against Scotland, with Sam Warburton facing a race against time to be fit to play.
The Wales captain suffered a dead leg in Dublin, meaning he could join Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris in missing the game at the Millennium Stadium.
Davies is also likely to miss out after he was cited for his tip tackle on Donnacha Ryan, Gatland admitting after the game the lock should have been sent off.
Wales are 1.14 to beat Scotland on Sunday, with the tie 34.00 and a Scots win 6.00.
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