Jones winning fitness race

Wales fly half Stephen Jones should be fit to face Italy on Saturday.

Jones lasted only 20 minutes of the 31-5 defeat against Ireland on February 26 before limping off with a dead leg.

But Wales physio Mark Davies, who has been looking after Jones' rehabilitation, feels the Clermont Auvergne man is winning his fitness race.

"Stephen is progressing well. We are optimistic about his prospects for the weekend," said Davies.

"He is not going to take part in team training today. He is continuing his rehab with a pool session, but he will take part in one of the team sessions tomorrow.

"And we will know with a lot more clarity then his prospects for the weekend.

"Stephen did well in rehab last week, and he hasn't done any running on it deliberately so far.

"We knew it was going to be seven to 10 days from the point of injury and so it has proved."

The news from Davies on winger Mark Jones is less optimistic: "Mark Jones has bruised his ribs and they are particularly sore at the moment. And he won't take part in active training over the next couple of days.

"And it is fair to say there are doubts over his fitness for the weekend. He is probably rated 50-50 at the moment."

Meanwhile, Wales captain Gareth Thomas has targeted the summer tour of Argentina to make his comeback from his neck injury.

"If things go well, I would like to think that I might make it for the second half of the Wales tour to Argentina," said Thomas.