Wales may move Coombs to six

Newport Gwent Dragons and Wales lock Andrew Coombs could feature at blindside flanker for Wales in place of Ryan Jones.

Newport Gwent Dragons and Wales lock Andrew Coombs could feature at blindside flanker for Wales in place of Ryan Jones.

Wales captain Jones was ruled out of this weekend's clash with England on Tuesday, with many expecting interim head coach Rob Howley to opt for a combination of Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton at flanker.

However, Wales forwards coach Robyn McBryde has revealed that Coombs, who impressed earlier in the tournament before losing his place to the returning Alun Wyn Jones, could be used on the blindside.

“Andrew has played a lot of his rugby at six, even though he has been in the second row more recently,” said McBryde to the Western Telegraph.

“He has shown at international level that he can be effective with ball in hand.

“He has great footwork, good offloading and he is very accurate at the breakdown in both attack and defence.

“He has that physicality about him as well, so he could well be an option for us at six.”