Warren Gatland’s men are looking to get their RBS 6 Nations title defence back on track at the Millennium Stadium after their 26-3 defeat to Ireland earlier this month.
That game in Dublin saw Ireland score two tries from driving mauls, Chris Henry and Paddy Jackson the beneficiaries as Wales struggled to stop the momentum in Joe Schmidt’s side. And Jones knows all too well that France will aim to have some success in the same area this weekend.
“We’ve been candid and from the pack’s point of view, we were disappointed with how the game went against Ireland,” said the Ospreys skipper.
“The driving maul and the line-out are in vogue now, it’s more of an attacking weapon and Ireland did it pretty well against us. If you speak to the boys who play in the French league, they like to use that out there.
“We’ve got to be much improved as a pack against France than we were against Ireland to deal with that.”
With the likes of Pascal Papé and Louis Picamoles in the French pack, the line out battle with Jones and co could have a big impact on the outcome of the game.
Jones added: “Once that ball is at the back of a maul, you can’t get to it. You can’t pull it down once it’s moving and that’s why it can be so dangerous. Stopping it at source was the goal against Ireland but we didn’t do that – we’ll be looking to do that against France.”
While Wales have won one and lost one of their two games so far, France edged England in a see-saw encounter before brushing aside Italy at the Stade de France.
“France have been able to pull away in the last few moments and bring Gael Fickou on – he’s a game changer and the firepower they have coming off the bench and in the front five is impressive,” said Jones on Friday’s opposition.
“I think they’ll be pretty happy. It will give them confidence and they’re definitely one of the most dangerous sides in this competition.
“But we have to move forward and crack on with the game at hand. It’s a massive opportunity to put it right for whoever is selected.
“It’s the start of another Test week, everything is shunted forward a day but we’ve had a week off to rest, recuperate and get back on the horse – that’s what we intend to do.”
