The Llanelli Scarlets' star blindside flanker has some painful memories of the 2003 championship - he was a second-half substitute in the 30-22 defeat against Italy at Stadio Flaminio, and also started in the next four losses.

And after helping Wales reach the World Cup quarter-finals, and then playing in the team that pushed England all the way, Jones is doubly determined that the men in red make an impact in the forthcoming championship.

"We definitely want to put the championship whitewash of last season well behind us," he said.

"Even last year, we had hopes of success, but it all went wrong for us from the start. We went to Italy with plenty of confidence, but it just didn't happen for us.

"The defeat in Rome was hard to take. We knew we were better than that, and we knew we had let everyone down badly.

"The defeat dented our confidence, and then nothing went our way after that. We went close to beating Ireland, and a couple of missed tackles ruined a good performance against England.

"There is a huge amount of talent in this Welsh squad, and if we can boost that with a bit of confidence, then who knows what we can achieve."