Eddie Jones warns England to be wary of Alun Wyn Jones’ wind-up tactics
Eddie Jones has warned England to beware of Alun Wyn Jones’s wind-up tactics as they seek to keep alive their hopes of defending the Six Nations title against Wales on Saturday.
The Wales captain played a key role in rattling England – in particular Kyle Sinckler – in Cardiff two years ago, when Wales came from behind to take victory, and the head coach is expecting more of the same at the Principality Stadium.
Before the match in 2019, the Wales head coach Warren Gatland took aim at Sinckler, describing him as an “emotional timebomb” and afterwards appeared to gloat at his captain’s success in winding up the England prop. A year before that, Eddie Jones called out the Wales captain’s conduct in dealing with the referee Pascal Gaüzère when trying to stop a kick being taken against Scotland and revealed he had complained to World Rugby about it.
This time the head coach was more complimentary over his namesake – who will make a 23rd straight appearance against England – but again warned of his influence over referees with Gaüzère also taking charge on Saturday.
By contrast, England’s Owen Farrell has a reputation for overstepping the mark with referees but while Eddie Jones is confident his captain will develop into a world class leader, he urged his side to show they have developed more “street-smarts” at the weekend.
“It’s [Alun Wyn Jones’] 146th Test [for Wales] so he knows what he’s doing,” said Jones. “He’s an experienced campaigner who has a good relationship with the referees. At times he has targeted players in our team. We’ve spoken about him and we understand what he’ll be trying to do. It’s just about making sure we maintain our composure and our control.
“We are evolving into a more streetsmart team, but the game is about pressure situations. Whilst we all like to think we can handle every pressure situation, we don’t and that is the great thing about the game of rugby. I am sure Alun Wyn Jones is going to be looking for those situations and we’re going to have to deal with them.”
Accordingly, Eddie Jones has kept team changes to a minimum, with Jamie George returning at hooker and Mark Wilson coming in at blindside flanker after Courtney Lawes was a late withdrawal with a chest injury. That has meant a place on the bench and a potential debut for the 19-yearold George Martin but on the whole it is another conservative selection for what Eddie Jones has billed as a ”make or break” contest. In other words, the England coach is hoping to play his underperforming senior stars such as Farrell into form, dismissing any concerns over his captain’s leadership skills.
“Our feedback from the referees on Owen is only positive,” added Eddie Jones. “Unless they are telling lies, they are quite happy with his approach. Owen is in his third year and is learning his craft and he will become an excellent captain. He is just a bit off his best at the moment, like a number of our players. There are a number of external variables but he is not far away. You will see a better version of him against Wales.”
Wayne Pivac’s response when asked if he agreed that England were boring was immediate. “People can think what they like,” said the Wales head coach. “They have only lost one game in how long and they are playing a winning brand of rugby.”
It was probably not the response Pivac’s predecessor, and master jouster, Warren Gatland would have resorted to, but the new regime is more focused on refining performances than winding up opponents. And, anyway, statistics from the opening two rounds of this year’s Six Nations show that Wales have taken fewer risks than England, playing a territory rather than possession game.
It has earned them two victories, both against teams that had a player sent off, and Pivac has named the most experienced team in Wales’ history, armed with a combined 902 caps, for Saturday’s encounter. George North, who will win his 100th for his country, and Jonathan Davies are restored to the midfield, the wing Josh Adams is back from suspension, Liam Williams moves to full-back and replaces the concussed
Leigh Halfpenny, Kieran Hardy starts at scrum-half and Josh Navidi returns to the back row.
Davies has not played for five weeks and has only made a handful appearances since being injured during the 2019 World Cup. He will start out of position at inside-centre, although he played there at the end of the Autumn Nations Cup late last year. Pivac had more attacking options at 12 and 10, but Callum Sheedy and Willis Halaholo are on the bench and Nick Tompkins is not in the matchday 23.
“Jon puts more strings on our bow,” said Pivac. “He is a left-footed kicking option and he has never let Wales down. We had some big decisions to make but it was only a few weeks ago that we were scratching our heads about the make-up of the midfield. Sometimes when you move guys it gives them a new lease of life.
“We are working on getting the balance right in our attack. It has not been as polished as we would have liked and although it was nice to score a few tries against Scotland, this weekend is a different proposition. It is about getting the balance between field position and knowing when to strike.”
A second tournament victory over England since the 2015 World Cup would earn Wales the triple crown and keep them on course for a grand slam having finished fifth in Pivac’s first season in charge with their only victory coming against Italy. “England are the team to beat and are all the more dangerous after dropping their first game” said the head coach. “We have to improve from Scotland because a repeat of out first 20-30 minutes there would put us out of the game. There is pressure on both teams for different reasons.”