Nigel Owens: Eddie Jones has a lot of work to do but still right man to lead England in World Cup

Former international referee Nigel Owens has told us that England have a lot of work to do ahead of next year’s World Cup following a disappointing Six Nations campaign, but Eddie Jones is still the right man for the job.

England suffered a 25-13 defeat to France on Saturday to finish third in the Six Nations, with many questioning Jones’ position as head coach going into the 2023 World Cup. However, Owens believes the Australian still has the ability to lead the nation to a successful campaign next year.

“When you’re 18 months out from a World Cup it’s a big ask to change any coaching set-up really,” Owens told us. “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… But 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.”

Owens added: “England have shown glimpses in the Six Nations. They played well in Paris and they played well against Ireland, even though they lost those two games. But there’s something not quite right there. They’ve got some quality players, with Owen Farrell still to come back, who’ll bring a lot to the side, particularly experience-wise. But they’ve got a lot of work to do.

“They’ve showed glimpses but they’re nowhere near winning the World Cup at the moment so they’ve got a lot of work to do in that respect. But it looks like it’s work that can be done pretty quickly. They’ve got the players, they just need to find that rhythm, style and confidence.”

Owens believes France are the favourites to win the World Cup following their Grand Slam success and home advantage next year, but feels they still need to work on a few things.

“They’re my favourites for the World Cup next year,” Owens said. “The fact they are playing in France is the key to it, but Ireland are in a good place at the moment, New Zealand will always be strong, South Africa as well… France are going in there as one of the favourites. The only question I do have is, like we saw in Cardiff in that second half against Wales, when the pressure is on, how will they deal with it?

“What are they going to be like against South Africa, New Zealand, or even Ireland or England, if they go into the World Cup in form? What will they be like if there’s only a couple of points in it and there’s pressure on them? But there’s another year-and-a-half to go so they’ll keep improving. But at the moment, they’re not out and out favourites like New Zealand in 2015. They’re still favourites but it will be interesting to see how they go in the build-up to next year.”

Owens added: “They deserved the Grand Slam, they were the best team in the tournament. Although they were very lucky to beat Wales. They didn’t look like they were going to lose in Paris against England, they were in control. They did make errors, but England were too ill-disciplined and weren’t able to capitalise on those French mistakes and turn it to their advantage. England played well in Paris but France were the better side, and overall across the tournament they’ve been fully deserved Grand Slam winners. If anybody begrudges France then they must have been watching a different tournament!”

Owens also went on to say that Italy’s win against Wales proves that they deserve their place in the Six Nations, despite some calling for them to be replaced.

“Italy showed with that win they belong in the Six Nations,” Owens said. “I’ve been supporting Italy and saying that Georgia and the others are not good enough to replace Italy. They are not of the standard to replace Italy. Italy have struggled in recent years, of course they have, but Georgia are not better than Italy. If you look in recent years, Benetton have been playing some great rugby, and that was Kieran Crowley coaching them. And he seems now to have got the Italian players for Italy playing like Benetton were playing, as we saw on the weekend.

“I hope those calling for Italy to be chucked out of the Six Nations are feeling a bit embarrassed now. And what happens next year if Wales finish with the wooden spoon? They were only a few points ahead of Italy this year. What happens then if you’re talking about the bottom side being relegated? The Six Nations is special and needs to stay the way that it is. The weekend has put that argument to bed.”

Owens also believes the standard of refereeing across this year’s Six Nations was at a satisfactory level.

“I think the referees can be pleased with their standard of refereeing overall across the tournament,” Owens said. “There’s some things to work on, there always is. Some referees have performed better than others, a couple of referees maybe haven’t put their name down in bold for the World Cup or got rid of that question mark. But overall, nobody is talking about huge controversies. We’re talking about a few decisions, but that’s always the case. They can be pleased overall with their performances.”

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