But the Llanelli Scarlet with the tough-guy image is back in his favourite number six jersey and impatiently waiting for kick-off against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Wales coach Mike Ruddock has dressed up Jones' absence from the pre-tour 42-0 win over the Barbarians and 50-44 reverse by Argentina last weekend as an opportunity to bring 33-year-old Jason Forster up to speed at international level.

But Ruddock also let it slip that Jones had been "hurting" for his omissions since the coach succeeded Steve Hansen, who saw Jones primarily as a number eight.

"Jason Forster is unlucky. The plan was always to bed him in at this level," said Ruddock.

"We did that by fielding him against the Barbarians and in the first Test of this tour last weekend - and he did very well. He had the highest tackle count with 17 and scored a try.

"We are not pointing the finger at Jason, but we wanted to look at a different combination and Dafydd Jones has done very well for Wales in the past and I need to see the back-row blend that involves Colin Charvis moving to openside.

"I see Dafydd as a blindside. He was hurting after not being involved in the last couple of games and I'm sure there is a big game in him on the back of that to show that he shouldn't be left out again."

Jones is determined to stake his claim to a long term role in the Wales back-row.
He said: "It's good to get my first chance under the new management so it's going to be a huge game for me."

And the 24-year-old has warned his team-mates that they can expect the second Test to be far tougher than the first.

He said: "After winning the first Test, the Pumas are really going to well up for the return and it will be a big examination for us.

"Not being involved last weekend was really hard, but this is my big chance and it's up to me to make the most of it.

There have been a few changes all round and it's simply a matter of us having to play better than we did last weekend.

"That is up to us and we are looking forward to it.

"On a personal level it's nice to be back in the Wales number six jersey. It's my preferred position and where I have played almost all of my rugby. I can't really remember the last time I played at blindside for Wales."

Jones is now focused on Wales revenge mission. He said: "It was a hard game up in Tucuman, but it's going to be even harder in the second Test. Argentina have also had a chance to take a look at us, but if we can eliminate our mistakes we should be in with a shout.

"They turned us over a few times last weekend so we have to tighten up our play and defend better and we know we are capable of scoring a few tries.

We need to take the game to them - and if we do that, there is no reason why we can't do well on Saturday.

"We need a more ruthless attitude in the second Test and to do everything we can to win this game. You could say our training has been pretty physical this week, but we certainly needed it and hopefully that attitude will pay dividends on Saturday.

"Everyone knows we scored 44 points and lost. It says a lot about our attacking game, but if we are also going to leave in six tries we are not going to win games at this level."