Wing Jones 'has time to recover'

Stricken wing Mark Jones should be fit for the start of Wales' RBS Six Nations campaign, according to former national captain Gwyn Jones.

The Scarlets player this week underwent an operation to remove his appendix.

But former Wales skipper Jones, a doctor based in Cardiff, says the prognosis is good.

"I would still think that he's got plenty of time to make a recovery in order to play against Scotland in the first round of matches," Jones said.

"Obviously it's a fairly routine procedure for an emergency condition, it all depends upon what sort of operation he had.

"There are two ways of doing this. You can do the old-fashioned sort of cut through the stomach muscles to get to the appendix and take it out.

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"Or else these days you can do it laparscopically with a sort of magic eye where you make very small incisions and you can remove the appendix in that way.

"Now if he's had the second of those options then I would probably think that he wouldn't really be inconvenienced more than a couple of weeks I wouldn't have thought.

"If he's had the other one then it's obviously going to take a little bit longer."

The Scarlets medical team have estimated that wing Jones, 29, who has scored 12 tries from his 43 caps, will need three weeks to recover.

That still puts Jones in the frame for selection for the trip to Murrayfield on Sunday, 8 February when Wales begin their Six Nations title defence.

Other wing options for Wales include Leigh Halfpenny, Tom James, Jamie Roberts, Morgan Stoddart and Richard Fussell.

"Well I'm not picking the team and I think there's a fair bit of competition these days, especially from Halfpenny who is playing well and also capable of playing on the wing," Doctor Jones added.

"All Mark would hope for is that he's available for selection and then it's up to him to prove himself and if he does have a game or two beforehand then he can claim he's fit to go."

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