Six Nations 2013: Wales cannot continue to hide behind their injury list, says JPR Williams To my mind, we cannot just hide behind an injury list that will hopefully shorten this week with the news that Ryan Jones is fit to take his place somewhere in the second or back row. Our kicking game was poor in the autumn, we have lost the ability to close off games from positions of promise and we have an interim coach who in the eyes of many a Welsh supporter is struggling to galvanise the squad. I am sure there is a good reason why the Lions coach of next summer is unable to carry out his duties as national coach during the Championship, but if there is, will someone tell me why. I do not subscribe to the view that just because he is the Lions coach, he cannot carry on regardless. It is not as if he will not see the other players throughout the Championship or has not been watching them all season, is it? But if it is, should not Rob Howley be in the same boat too? Anyway, however Wales and the Lions try to justify this, it is clear that his absence is damaging to the Wales cause. That was evident in the autumn. It has been another contributing factor to the demise. Gatland's class of 2012 were a decent bunch and they knew how to win games. Remember the final four minutes against France in Cardiff. There was no way that France were ever going to wrestle the ball off our forwards. They held it firm at their feet and saw the clock countdown to referee Craig Joubert's final whistle. As good as any free-flowing move behind the scrum. Proud to be a Welshman. In the games since, we have allowed those chances to pass us by and it is certainly a concern again. Without the key members of our second and back rows and without a controlling force at No 10, it could be a different story. Which brings me nicely on to the fly-half debate and the one issue that stirs the emotion more than any in Welsh sport. With Rhys Priestland sidelined, there had to be a change from last season. But I think the inevitable choice of Dan Biggar is slightly misguided. What has James Hook done wrong? I feel he has been treated harshly by the coaches, for some reason or another. He is highly rated in France yet over here, he spends most of his time on the bench. And even when he comes on, he is asked to play in positions that, while not being alien to him, are clearly not of his choice. For me, Hook should start at No 10. On a positive note, it is great to see Lee Byrne back in the squad, although I am not sure whether he will get a place in the starting line-up. Having said that, I do believe that if his form in France for Clermont Auvergne counts for anything, he could find himself on the bench for Wales but on the plane to Australia in June. It is an area where we do have strength in depth and one that will cause some concern for an Irish side desperate to avenge last season's defeat at the hands of Wales in Dublin. I was reminded of that wonderful victory in Ireland last year by one or two fans at this week's Barbarians" reunion dinner in London. Five of us from the side of 1973 - myself, John Pullin, Phil Bennett, Tommy David and John Dawes - were brought together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Gareth's wonderful try in that game. It still amazes me how many people remember the try. That said, it is not a bad thing because when Gareth scored I was still 70 yards behind recovering from Brian Williams" high tackle. It was great to have been a part of it and let us hope we see a few Welsh tries like that over the coming weeks.