The Ospreys coach saw 13 of his men beat France to clinch a clean sweep of wins and the Six Nations title for the second time in four seasons.
And Jones insists Wales and Ospreys captain Ryan Jones and co will be eager to follow up their national success with a victory in the region’s EDF Energy Cup semi-final clash with Saracens on Saturday.
Jones said: “It will be great for the Welsh players to go back to the Millennium Stadium and I know they will relish the challenge of another big game. I’m sure the chance to chase more silverware will appeal to my players when they return. There will be 10,000 Ospreys fans ready to roar them on and I’m sure they will be up for it.”
The mouth-watering showdown in the Welsh capital is the first of a double-header of cup ties between the sides. While the Ospreys hold a slight advantage by playing in Wales this weekend, Jones’s men will then travel for ’round two’ at Vicarage Road for the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup on April 6th.
But Jones is not looking further than this weekend at this stage. He said: “The EDF Energy Cup is a tournament that has grown in stature and it is something we did well in last season by reaching the final.
“We played well in patches against Leicester Tigers, but not well enough to win. Now we are determined to go one better and prove we’ve improved as a team. Saracens will hold an advantage because they have been playing Guinness Premiership games throughout the Six Nations.
“That means they will be more cohesive as a team. I know many of my players have been playing together for Wales, but we’ll only get about two sessions in before the semi-final and that isn’t much time to prepare for such a crucial match.
“And what we have to do now is manage our internationals well when they return. In the last 12 months some of them will have been involved in no fewer than eight different tournaments: the tour to Australia last summer, the pre-World Cup warm-up matches, the Rugby World Cup, the Prince William Cup clash with South Africa, the Six Nations, the Magners League, EDF Energy Cup and the Heineken Cup.
“That is an incredible work load and we need to ensure we learn the lessons of what happened to the 2005 Welsh Grand Slam team and how injuries and dips in form contributed to two years of poor performances after that success.”
Jones has identified the Saracens half backs, Neil de Kock and Glenn Jackson, as the two biggest threats to the Ospreys’ march to a second successive EDF final. He also knows that any pack containing ex-All Black Chris Jack is going to pose a huge physical threat.
“Whichever team wins on Saturday is going to have a huge psychological advantage for the next game in the Heineken Cup. When you look at the back-to-back games in Europe, it is always harder to win the second game if you’ve lost the first,” said Jones.
“We’re ambitious to win more silverware, although I think this season has already been a success for us on a number of fronts. We’ve contributed 14 players to a Welsh Grand Slam side and we’ve reached the semi-finals of the EDF again and, for the first time, the last eight of the Heineken Cup.
“But we want to win the two cup tournaments we’re still fighting in.”
