Jones and Gatland met for curry before Six Nations… but now bosses are back to argie-bhaji ahead of Wales vs England

The two super-coaches, who broke naan bread in London last month, are on the verge of breaking into all-out war in Cardiff on Saturday.

Gatland footed the bill but is determined to make Jones pay for the Aussie’s dig about this Six Nations showdown being the biggest game of the Welsh players’ lives.

Kiwi Gat, 55, quipped yesterday: “He’s taking the mick. He’s talking about us saying it’s a big game. But it’s not the biggest game we’ve played in — it’s only England!”

Gatland was equally dismissive over Jones’ sarcastic comments that England would be facing the best Dragons team ever… because victory would give them a new Welsh record 12th win in a row.

He added: “The only quotes I can see about this being the ‘greatest Welsh team ever’ have come from Eddie Jones.


“I would not be disrespectful enough to say this was the greatest Welsh team ever. It’s a long way off.

“He’s the one talking us up. Not even the Press are talking us up.

“We’re all pretty aware that we’re on a good run and have done well in the last 12 months but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For us, this is just another game — a big game and we’re pretty excited for it.”

Jones, 59, has a 4-0 record against Gatland since becoming England boss in 2016.

But he knows Lions coach Gatland will have his bloodthirsty Dragons fired up for a potential Grand Slam decider at the Principality Stadium.

Jones said: “We want to have plenty of aggression and toughness, but we need calm heads.

“We need to be able to channel it in the right direction. So we need to be able to play tough, think smart.

“If we do that we’ll put ourselves in a great position to win.

“They’re going to be full of emotion. They’ve been saying they’re ready to rip off heads. The senior players are holding them back.

“They watched a play about Ray Gravell — I remember watching him play, he was a really good player.

“They’ll bring that to the field and we know Wales teams at home want to come out hard.

“Our job is to be like that heavyweight boxer who knows exactly what he’s going to do, waits for the opportunity for the knockout and then takes it.

“Don’t get involved in endless sparring that can’t win you the game. Just be calm but at the same time be tough and have a real steel about us.

“And I know we’re going to have that. I can see it in the players’ eyes.”

Jones knows Wales will be a different team to the one that scraped an unconvincing win over Italy last time out.

He added: “It’s a big week for them, a lot of expectation. That can either be wind in your sails or a ball and chain.

“I know there’s a lot of talk coming out. Every England-Wales game is abrasive and I don’t think this will be anything different.

“It’s Warren’s last Six Nations game against England. We’re going to play a team that’s proud of their heritage, that are establishing their best winning record — and we get the chance to spoil the party and that’s the great thing.

“We’re going to enjoy all of that. That’s part of the lead-up to the game.”

Gatland admits this is probably the most eagerly-anticipated Wales-England match in the ten years he has been coach.

He said: “I don’t think England know which team will turn up on Saturday. But we do.

“This has become a really big game for both of us, not so much for the Six Nations but building for the rest of the year, World Cup plans and pre- parations and for Japan.”

And he took one final swipe, saying Jones’ decision not to allow Wales to close the stadium roof will have no effect on the level of passion England will face.

Gatland added: “It is still going to be an incredible atmosphere.

“The big challenge for England is that five of their pack have never played at the Principality Stadium before.

“None of their forward pack started against us last year apart from Courtney Lawes, who played in the back row that time.

“It is going to be a great challenge and we are excited to play at home against a team who are really on form at the moment.

“Win this game, I think it sets you up mentally as much as anything for the rest of the year.”

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