Six Nations: Ruddock rues Adam Jones' Wales absence for Ireland

Tight-head prop Adam Jones won 95 caps for Wales

Adam Jones could have had an important part to play for Wales in the next round of the Six Nations against Ireland, says Mike Ruddock.

The British and Irish Lions tight-head prop, 33, retired from Test rugby in January after being left out of the Six Nations squad for this campaign.

But ex-Wales coach Ruddock says Jones would have provided experienced cover.

"I would have liked to have seen Adam Jones still in the Wales squad for a game of this magnitude," Ruddock said.

"Adam Jones could have done 40 minutes perhaps at the coal face and shared the load with Samson Lee."

With Scarlet Lee shouldering the main load at tight-head, Ruddock is unsure of how much strength there is on the bench without Jones.

"As and when Samson gets tired I don't know if we're quite at the same level after that, so that [the scrum] is going to be an interesting battle," former Swansea flanker Ruddock added.

Former Wales coach Mike Ruddock (right) lifts the 2005 Six Nations trophy with Adam Jones (left) and Mefin Davies

Ireland are the last undefeated team in the Championship after beating England 19-9 in Dublin on Sunday, while Wales got their title chase back on track with a 20-13 victory over France in Paris.

Ireland's next fixture is in Cardiff on 14 March, where Wales will try to end the Grand Slam hopes of Joe Schmidt's side.

While pointing to the scrum as the key confrontation, Ruddock - who in 2005 led Wales to their first Grand Slam for 28 years - believes the line-out will also have a huge bearing on the result at the Millennium Stadium.

Racing Metro lock Luke Charteris was preferred to Jake Ball at the Stade de France and Ruddock believes current Wales coach Warren Gatland should stick with that selection.

"In the line-out battle I think [6ft 9in] Luke Charteris was a great addition for the last game, so I'd expect him to stay," Ruddock said.

"You need that sort of height against a very, very good Ireland line-out with people like Dev Toner, who's about 6ft 10in as well."