GATLAND JIBE KICKS THINGS OFF
WARREN GATLAND has fired the first shots ahead of Saturday’s England against Wales Six Nations showdown by goading Eddie Jones over his ambitions to succeed him as Lions coach.
And the Welsh chief also warned that his side’s superior fitness could see them smash England’s hopes of becoming the first country to win the title three times running.
Australian Jones is rumoured to want the British and Irish Lions job for the South Africa tour in 2021, with England No.8 Billy Vunipola claiming the Lions would have won the series in New Zealand last summer with him in charge.
But Gatland, with tongue firmly in cheek, said: “I’m just intrigued by watching him, the way he prepares and how he goes about doing things.
“He’s obviously done a great job so I’m watching him particularly closely and learning as much as I can. He’ll do a great job if he’s Lions coach – 3-0 (over South Africa) will be expected. It’s probably the easiest of the three tours, isn’t it?”
Wales were the last team to beat England in a Six Nations match at Twickenham, winning 19-12 six years ago when centre Scott Williams scored a try five minutes from time.
Since then, though, they have reeled off 14 successive home victories in the tournament.
But working with England’s leading players on the Lions tour in the summer has allowed Gatland to assess their fitness. And he warned: “In the past we’ve backed our ability to play for 80 minutes and we’ve felt we’ve been fitter than the English.”
“We’ve had success playing right until the end against them.”
Gatland has named an unchanged starting team after crushing Scotland in Cardiff with George North replacing Owen Watkin on the bench.
Richard Wigglesworth has been called up by England to replace scrum-half Ben Youngs, who is out with knee ligament damage.