Jones in home win dig at ref Owens
EDDIE Jones has appeared to make a shock dig at Welsh referee Nigel Owens ahead of the Welshman taking charge of England’s Six Nations opener against France.
Owens will be the man in the middle for the Paris contest on Sunday, February 2 (3pm kickoff), and Aussie Jones has spoken about how difficult it will be for England to win the clash.
Jones, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast, made a point of bringing up Owens, saying: “France are always a good team, we know there is the massive influence being at home.
“The referee we’ve got in the first game has got a 91 per cent winning record for home teams.
“That shows you how hard it is to win.
“We’re going to have to play exceptionally well to win that game and that’s a great challenge for us because we’re going to have to manage the referee.”
Owens is widely regarded as one of the best referees in the world and completely unbiased when it comes to taking charge of games.
It is unclear exactly why Jones chose to raise the 91 per cent figure, but his comments leave him open to criticism from the army of fans – not just in Wales – who rate Owens so highly as a referee.
Clearly, home advantage plays a huge part in the success of teams, particularly during the Six Nations where matches can be tight and support from the crowd wills players to victory.
That was demonstrated perfectly when Wales beat England in a titanic Cardiff tussle last year, the Principality Stadium crowd lifting Warren Gatland’s side and ensuring they overcame Jones’ England in the closing quarter.
Jones anticipates another riproaring, tight game in England’s Paris opener this year, saying: “The conditions at Stade de France will be wet, they’ll be damp, it’s going to be a tough old game.
“That excites us, that we can really go there and find our mojo in the first game.
“They’ve picked a young team, they’re obviously building towards 2023 and we’re not sure how the young teams going to experience pressure, how they handle pressure. So we want to find out.”