Stephen Jones proved he is not going to stand back and let Jonny Wilkinson waltz in at No 10 for the Lions as he kicked 16 points to spearhead Clermont Auvergne's victory over Biarritz at the weekend.
Stephen Jones proved he is not going to stand back and let Jonny Wilkinson waltz in at No 10 for the Lions as he kicked 16 points to spearhead Clermont Auvergne's victory over Biarritz at the weekend.
The Welsh outside half steered his side to a 30-26 victory that keeps them in with a chance of returning to the Heineken Cup next season.
With two games left to play Jones and co need to win both with a bonus point to claim the seventh spot from the French Championship.
It was also a good weekend for Jones' Grand Slam team mate Gareth Thomas. The Welsh skipper started Toulouse' Heineken Cup final dress rehearsal against Castres following a warm-up injury to full back Clement Pointrenaud.
And Thomas grabbed his opportunity with both hands as he scored two and made a third of the home side's five tries in a morale boosting 47-20 victory over Castres Olympique.
That made it five tries in four games since Thomas returned from his broken thumb and he is now in line to make not only the 22 for Murrayfield next weekend, but also the starting XV.
Wales' third representative in France, Gareth Llewellyn, was at the heart of a Narbonne pack that gave Toulouse' Heineken Cup final opponents, Stade Francais, a torrid time in Paris before going down 29-24.
