Nigel Owens voices support of Eddie Jones

Celebrated referee Nigel Owens has weighed in on the current Eddie Jones debate in favour of the latter. 

England’s poor showing in the 2022 Six Nations has prompted cries for Jones to step down from his post as fans begin to panic with the World Cup closing in. 

However, the RFU have placed their support firmly behind Jones to take England to France to contest the Webb Ellis trophy. 

Owens appears to believe that the calls for Jones’ head are premature and drew a comparison with former Wales coach Warren Gatland. 

“When you’re 18 months out from a World Cup it’s a big ask to change any coaching set-up really,” Owens said. “It’d be a huge gamble to do that. Eddie’s won a Grand Slam with England, Six Nations titles, he took them to the last World Cup final and outplayed New Zealand in that semi-final. They played brilliantly in that game, probably one of the best England performances that one has seen. So, he’s definitely still got the ability to lead them into the World Cup. 

“If you look back at Warren Gatland, there were times in that 10 or 11 years coaching Wales when he didn’t have the best of seasons. But then the next season he got things right and would bounce back. Wales went to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2019, the quarter-finals in 2015 and the semi-final in 2011 which they should have won. 

"It’ll be interesting to see how Eddie and England go over the summer and in the autumn as they do need to now start getting some wins in and build up some confidence as the World Cup is getting closer."