Eddie Jones on Wales: England owe them one

Eddie Jones has warned Wales his England team “owe them one” after a 2019 Six Nations defeat that still irks him.

England were beaten 21-13 in Cardiff last year and Wales went on to win a Grand Slam.

Jones’ side have the chance to atone for that loss at Twickenham on Saturday, with the head coach quick to remind his players about the opportunity they let slip in last year’s tournament.

“You have got to remember we owe them one – you never like to lose to Wales, and we lost last year,” he said.

“We were in position [leading] at half-time and we have learned from that. That was one of the key games that got us in our best condition for the World Cup.

“But it is still a game that I’m sure irks every England player who played in it. It certainly irks me.”

It doesn’t get much bigger than #ENGvWAL #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/kvhGcAQ75b

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 5, 2020

England have recovered from their opening matchday loss to France with victories over Scotland and Ireland.

Jones insists he has not needed to mention the prospect of a Triple Crown to motivate his players and is thrilled with how his squad has come on during the Six Nations.

He added: “No, not at all, The only motivation is beating Wales. That is motivation enough.

“We have probably just had our best training run of the Six Nations. We have gone up another level.

“We are not far underneath where we were at the World Cup now in terms of physical condition and in terms of the intensity we can potentially play with.

“It has always been the goal to peak for this week. This was always going to be the crux game of the Six Nations for us so we deliberately had quite a slow build-up to it so we are at our best this week.”

But Jones warned: “Wales were very unlucky to be beaten by France – all the stats from that game indicate they should have won it so we are going to be playing a very, very tough team.

“Wales are a well-coached team, we know they have lost their last two matches so they will come hard at us. They are always tough affairs that go down to the wire.”

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