Wales head coach Warren Gatland will not beg prop Adam Jones to return
Tuesday 17 March 2015 16:33, UK
Wales head coach Warren Gatland insists he will not beg prop Adam Jones to return despite a host of front row injuries.
British & Irish Lions star Jones, 34, announced his retirement from international rugby having been omitted from Gatland's initial Six Nations squad, which has now lost Samson Lee and Gethin Jenkins to injury ahead of the tournament finale in Italy.
But when asked of the possibility of asking Jones to reverse his decision, Gatland said: "I was surprised at the timing of his (retirement) announcement.
"He was not out of our thoughts. We had played a little bit of phone tag, leaving messages and going backwards and forwards.
"If he has changed his mind and wants to get on the phone and say I made a rash decision, retired too early and want to be part of the World Cup squad, that is a different conversation.
"At the moment, I will not be going on bended knees ringing him saying 'please come back we really desperately need you'. For us, it is about dealing with the other players.
At the moment, I will not be going on bended knees ringing him saying 'please come back we really desperately need you'. For us, it is about dealing with the other players.
"The players we have got at the moment have all the potential. We need to continue to build some more depth.
"We have to select a squad of 31 (for the World Cup), so that is nine front-rowers and probably a 17-14 or 18-13 split (forwards and backs).
"I have not thought that far ahead, and that will happen after this weekend, planning and preparation. We will name a pre-World Cup squad of 45 that will be in training, and we will start narrowing that down closer to the World Cup.
"The exciting thing about the World Cup is the time we will have together to do the in-depth coaching and the stuff we do not have the opportunity to do in the Six Nations.
"We feel the time we have together will make a massive difference in an incredibly tough group which has the fourth, fifth and sixth-ranked teams (England, Wales and Australia) in the world. That makes it pretty hard."
