Despite recruiting Wales internationals Lee Byrne, Aled Brew and Andy Powell during the off-season, the Men of Gwent have picked up just one win from their first six games of the season.
Taulupe Faletau is back in the starting line-up in the back-row with Nic Cudd and Lewis Evans. Promising fly-half Angus O’Brien starts his first European match alongside Richie Rees, who starts at scrum-half.
Heading to face Stade Francais first up in Pool 3 appears a daunting task given the run of results. But former Wales captain Jones wants his side to come out fighting.
He said: “We can’t be too down about things, we have to dust ourselves down and try and get a result. No-one is happy with how it is going. We are not having enough moments in the opposition 22 and we need that. It is my job to face up, front up and come in and believe we can go and get a result.
“Playing anyone away is tough, no-one says it will be easy. A lot of games are tough but hopefully we can work hard and get it right but control of the ball is massively important. We certainly need to be able to retain the ball higher up the field than we currently are.”
The home side have chosen not to register some of their big names for the tournament, with Sergio Parisse, Pascal Pape, Jules Plisson and Waisea Nayacalevu among those missing.
But Pierre Rabadan, handed the captaincy for this competition, has backed the Top 14 outfit’s fringe players to deliver on the continental stage.
He said: “You have to take this competition as an opportunity to give playing time to some different players and the pre-match speech will be very simple. The players involved, particularly the younger ones, will have to prove they are capable of what is expected at this level. That is the first step towards playing regularly.”
