England head coach Eddie Jones is like Brian Clough, says Wales defence chief Shaun Edwards
England head coach Eddie Jones has been likened to colourful former football manager Brian Clough by Wales defence chief Shaun Edwards ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations showdown in Cardiff.
Edwards shrugged off Jones’s references to England’s “horrendous” record in Wales as mind games designed to spur on his players, but praised the Australian’s approach and insisted his personality was good for rugby.
England, who started their bid for successive grand slams with a hard-fought win over France at Twickenham last week, have lost five of their last seven Tests at the Principality Stadium.
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“I think that’s just another way of Eddie throwing down a challenge to his players. It’s smart coaching. He’s a clever bloke is Eddie,” said Edwards.
“You want characters in the game. You’ve seen it in the past with football managers like Brian Clough, people like that. They were a bit outspoken. It’s good for the game.”
England’s 19-16 defeat of France extended their winning sequence to a national record 15th match, although they approach a historically difficult fixture shorn of several key players due to injury.
Wales, who have experienced No8 Talupe Faletau available again, started their Six Nations with a 33-7 victory in Italy and Edwards believes they are coming into the right form to upset England.
“They are the form team at the moment, on this fantastic unbeaten run. They averaged 33 points a game in 2016, so they are a very formidable attacking outfit,” he added.
“But we have had the best defence at the last two World Cups and if we get back to that sort of form, which we are slowly getting back to, we will be there to give them a game.”
Faletau missed the trip to Italy with a knee injury sustained in December but is expected to be back in the matchday 23 when interim head coach Rob Howley names his team to face England on Thursday morning.
The return to fitness of Faletau, who has amassed 62 caps, promises to bolster a Welsh back row whose experience is set to dwarf that of their English counterparts.
Jones could be forced to name a trio of Jack Clifford, Nathan Hughes and Maro Itoje, who have just four Test starts in back-row positions between them, as flanker Tom Wood remains a doubt.
By contrast, Wales could have a combined 147 caps if Howley selects Faletau alongside Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric.