Wales prop Wyn Jones believes there are positives to build on after they slipped to a 32-9 defeat to Ireland in the opening game of the Autumn Nations Cup.
Three penalties from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny were all Wayne Pivac’s visitors had to show from their visit to Dublin as Ireland ran out comfortable winners at the Aviva Stadium.
Tries from Quinn Roux and James Lowe in either half, along with eight points from Johnny Sexton and two penalties apiece for Billy Burns and Conor Murray secured victory for the hosts.
But despite losing a sixth game in a row, Jones is confident Wales improved on their performance last time out against Scotland and are not far away from turning their fortunes around.
“You never want to lose but there were some things we built on from the Scotland defeat,” he said.
“Some of the scrums are 50-50 calls and we were on the wrong side of some of them.
“Hopefully we’re on the way up from here.
“It’s never easy coming to Dublin, particularly without the Welsh fans here.”
A high penalty count proved costly for Wales as their set-piece malfunctioned in the first half while they also failed to take their chances after a positive start following the interval.
And Wales skipper Alun Wyn Jones insisted the game could have ended in a different result if the visitors had made their possession and territory count in the second half.
“In that period of possession, had we capitalised, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened,” said Jones, who won his 150th Test cap.
“But we were generating momentum. You go through periods like this. There were improvements but the breakdown needs to be cleaner, as does the set-piece.”
