Gatland backs Jones to lead Lions against Boks

Warren Gatland is backing Eddie Jones to succeed him as the next British and Irish Lions coach and expects he will bring back a clean sweep from their threeTest tour of SA in 2021.

“He’d do a great job as Lions coach. 3-0 would be expected. It’s probably the easiest of the three tours isn’t it?” Gatland said at a media conference on Tuesday after naming his Wales side to face Jones’s England in the Six Nations on Saturday.

Gatland coached the last two Lions tours, to Australia in 2013 and his native New Zealand in 2017, but says the Australian Jones is the best man to handle the next one.

“I’m learning from him. He’s doing a great job so I’m watching him pretty closely,” Gatland said. “I’m just intrigued by watching him, the way he coaches his team. You learn as much as you possibly can from everyone. That’s part of the game.”

The pair will meet having overseen a winning start to their respective campaigns with injury-hit Wales doing better than expected in brushing aside Scotland 34-7 in Cardiff, while England finished strongly to beat Italy 46-15 in Rome.

Gatland said the key to winning at Twickenham, where Wales last had success in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, was “confidence and self belief”.

“It’s about being prepared to play at a high intensity. Play with composure and patience and that’s the key. Not being intimidated by the Twickenham factor at all. There are a lot of guys in this squad who will go there with a lot of confidence.

“Everyone talks about how much they dislike the English but I think the relationship between England and Wales has always been close. It’s the rugby that brings the two nations together. I think that’s what makes the relationship special.”

Wales named an unchanged starting 15 for Saturday’s game. Jones will announce his England team on Thursday.