Jones says players at fault for poor Welsh displays

STEPHEN JONES insists it is Wales’ players and not coach Scott Johnson who should be taking the brunt of the increasing criticism following last weekend’s lacklustre RBS 6 Nations Championship draw against Italy.

Jones believes Johnson is the best coach he has ever worked with, in spite of the flak flying in his direction ahead of this weekend's final Six Nations clash against France at the Millennium Stadium.

"Scott is a one-off. If he goes back to Australia, it's a huge blow for Welsh rugby," said Jones, who has won 55 caps to date.

"He has educated us. When he came over here we were a million miles off things.

"He has broken things down with regards the skill aspects. His technical knowledge is superb and the way he breaks that down and gets it across is second to none."

But since the controversial departure of Mike Ruddock in the week after the win over Scotland, Johnson has been in charge of two poor performances.

He is not the man to blame, however, according to Jones.

"Everything in the week's preparation leading up to Ireland and Italy was superb, but against Italy we made 22 handling errors that's nothing to do with coaches, that's down to individual players.

"Coaches shouldn't have to account for players dropping the ball. We as players have to take responsibility for that.

Jones becomes very prickly about accusations from some former international players after the Ireland game that some of Wales' players looked "disinterested".

"That's unbelievable. In front of a full house, are you telling me that a guy isn't giving 100%? I was really disappointed to hear comments like that," complained the 28-year-old.

It now seems certain that Johnson will return home after the Six Nations and take up a post as assistant to Australia's new coach, John Connolly.

Johnson has also addressed the issue of Gareth Thomas and his team-mates asking to have a say in who was appointed as the future coach.

"No-one told me who to employ when I was manager of my company, but, whoever makes the decision needs to make sure they have done their research," he said.

Meanwhile France are showing no sign of resting on their laurels after the 31-6 demolition of England that puts them on course for the RBS 6 Nations Championship crown.

Bernard Laporte's side seem to have overcome the hiccup of their opening loss in Scotland, and a victory against Wales should give them the title.

The French have several injuries from last Sunday's battle at the Stade de France but make only one change.

Julien Bonnaire comes in to the back row at the expense of Olivier Magne who pays the price for a less than impressive display against Andy Robinson's men.

Italy v Scotland: C Stoica (Montpellier); P Canavosio (Calvisano), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), L Nitoglia (Calvisano); R Pez (Perpignan), P Griffen (Calvisano); S Perugini (Calvisano), F Ongaro (Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Calvisano), S Dellape (Agen), M Bortolami (Narbonne, capt), S Parisse (Stade Francais), M Zaffiri (Calvisano), J Sole (Viadana).