Alun-Wyn Jones claims tiredness is no excuse for Wales' poor form © Getty Images

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Alun Wyn Jones has dismissed fatigue as an excuse for Wales' two defeats in the 2014 Six Nations.

Wales lost to England 29-18 on Sunday and Gatland alluded to tiredness as one reason behind their mixed form in the championship. A number of his players have been exposed to a relentless Test schedule and the coach claimed that could be a reason behind their inability to secure a third straight title.

Ospreys lock Jones, along with many Welsh compatriots, played all three Tests in the British & Irish Lions' 2-1 success Down Under last year, but refused to allow it to colour Wales' two Six Nations defeats this term.

"I am not sure that had anything to do with the defeat," Jones said. "When you do not have the ball, it makes it much harder and we had to defend a lot. I do not know if fatigue is an issue after a long year.

"Many of us were on the Lions tour, but each individual is different and you would have to ask the opinion of every player. It could be an excuse. Although it is a relevant question, I do not think I can answer it.

"It was always going to be a big load this season, but there are potentially bigger things to worry about. You cannot expect teams to be up for a final every Saturday, but you have to in the Six Nations and that is the difficulty we have."

Wales host Scotland on Saturday and are intent on restoring some pride after the loss to England.

"We are all very disappointed about Sunday," Jones said. "We were in the game more than we were in Ireland and certain aspects were better, but there were areas we were not happy with. Two losses at this stage is not what we were looking for. We are lucky we have another game coming up quickly.

"You can take nothing away from England and credit to them: they starved us of ball but when we did have it 50% of our turnovers were unforced errors and we put pressure on ourselves. England have bounced back from the defeat in Cardiff last year and we have to do the same."