Centre Jack Dixon, another youngster on Wales' radar, had already suffered an injury to his kidney during pre-season - making for three headaches Jones could do without.
However, 21-year-old Dee made his first start for nine months after recovering from shoulder surgery of his own in last week's loss in the GUINNESS PRO12 to Glasgow Warriors.
"I was delighted with Elliot in Glasgow, he was outstanding and it's fantastic to have him back out on the field," Jones told the South Wales Argus.
"He brings energy, youth and enthusiasm. We've missed his presence and it was good for him to get 70 minutes under his belt, while Rhys Buckley did well when he came on for him.
"From where we were in Dublin our effort, work rate and desire to do well was excellent. I couldn't fault the fellas on that.
"A few errors stopped us from getting field position to score points but we will win games with that type of effort in the future."
But Jones admits the loss of his talented back-line trio is a particularly tough pill to swallow.
"It's really, really difficult to deal with," he added. "As a coach you have to deal with negatives all the time and turn them into positives but with us it's one thing after another with injuries.
"We just have to soldier on and do our best."
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