Eddie can be ‘great’ Lions coach - Warren Gatland

Warren Gatland has backed Eddie Jones to succeed him as the next British and Irish Lions coach and expects he will bring back a clean sweep from their three-Test tour of SA in 2021.

"He’d do a great job as Lions coach. 3-0 would be expected. It’s probably the easiest of the three tours isn’t it?" Gatland said at a media conference on Tuesday after naming his Wales side to face Jones’s England in the Six Nations on Saturday.

Gatland coached the last two Lions tours, to Australia in 2013 and his native New Zealand in 2017, but says the Australian Jones is the best man to handle the next one.

"I’m learning from him. He’s doing a great job so I’m watching him pretty closely," Gatland said. "I’m just intrigued by watching him, the way he coaches his team. You learn as much as you possibly can from everyone. That’s part of the game."