by James Dodd
STEPHEN Jones is delighted with the options Wales now have as they look towards their England clash in Cardiff.
George North is now involved in training again, as is backrower Josh Navidi and centres Jonathan Davies and Johnny Williams.
The Welsh defence coach is relishing the tough job of choosing the midfield partnership for the round three fixture.
“It’s fantastic, isn’t it? That’s what we want,” said Jones.
“Obviously, we went up to Murrayfield last week on the back of a six-day turnaround. The game against Ireland was very, very physical.
“We picked up some bumps and bruises in the midfield, but with Nick (Tompkins) and Owen (Watkin) doing such a great job, and Willis (Halaholo) coming on as well, and now these guys are returning to full health, we’ve got a good pool of players to choose from. That’s what we want.”
Jones, who scored a total of 917 points for Wales, also praised how Kieran Hardy and Callum Sheedy are both maturing.
The two players came on, replacing Gareth Davies and Dan Biggar respectively not long into the second 40 minutes.
“I think we’re in a good position, we used the Autumn series to give opportunities to a lot of young guys and new players. That was our whole aim – to develop strength in depth.
“I was delighted with the experience those boys gained in the Autumn series and obviously how they hit the ground running with us in this campaign.
“They had game time on the weekend, and they did particularly well when they came on. The key is they looked comfortable with how we wanted to play, which is testament to them.”
Despite claiming a bonus point win up in Edinburgh, Jones still believes his side need their offensive game like that all the time.
“First of all, the boys were ruthless on the weekend. The opportunities that they created and how they converted them – they were very, very good,” the 43-year-old said.
“The key for us is that when we play and attack with the ball, we’ve seen patches, but we want to see more of it.
“The speed of ball, how we shape defences – that is our focus point. We just want to do that for a lot longer periods – that is our goal.
“It’s a good challenge to have. Everyone understands the way we want to play.
“Yes, we do want to be ruthless, but ultimately, we want to create more as well. That’s always going to be the goal.”
There is a break from the Six Nations this weekend. Wales play England on the 27th February at the Principality Stadium, kick-off at 16:45.