Has Eddie Jones handed hurting Wales their November 28 team talk with description of next weekend's England vs Ireland game?

Eddie Jones could perhaps have given struggling Wales their dressing room team talk for the November 28 Autumn Nations Cup meeting with England at Llanelli on November 28. The Welsh have been struggling since Wayne Pivac took over the reins from Warren Gatland, the defeat to Ireland in Dublin on Friday night being their sixth loss in succession.

However, they twice beat Jones’ England in Wales in 2019, winning 21-13 in a February Six Nations meeting and emerging winners again 13-6 in an August pre-World Cup warm-up.

Both those games took place in front of a capacity Principality Stadium crowd and while their next clash will be behind closed doors at Parc Y Scarlets, winning away in Wales should surely still be classed as a difficult assignment. 

Alun Wyn Jones reacts to Wales’ latest defeat

Alun Wyn Jones reacts to Wales’ latest defeat

Jones, though, has instead labelled England’s meeting next weekend with Ireland as “the most important game of the year” for his recently crowned Six Nations champions.  

Speaking in the aftermath of the 40-0 London win over Georgia, Jones looked ahead to Autumn Nations Cup round two and said: “It’s always an interesting week. We have got a great squad of 30-odd players who are all competing for spots. 

PLAYER RATINGS

– @alexshawsport 👨‍💻 rates the English player's performances #ENGvGEO in the @autumnnations. Lots of 6s but there is a 8 and a 9 in there: https://t.co/jrxT80NQXN

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 14, 2020

“We realise the Ireland game is going to be the most important game of the year, so we will have a good preparation. Ireland will be cock-a-hoop after their big win against Wales, so they will come with plenty of confidence and swagger.”

While Wales were soundly defeated in Dublin on a 32-9 scoreline, they would still believe they are capable of going toe to toe with England on home ground. 

However, Jones’ remark suggesting that playing Ireland at Twickenham rather than facing Wales away was their most important game in 2020 was an indication perhaps of how far off the pedestal the 2019 Grand Slam champions and World Cup semi-finalists have fallen with Pivac at the helm.       

Quite the claim after 6️⃣ losses on the bounce, the ruthless sacking of the defence coach and the embarrassing first-half replacement of a prop #IREvWAL #AutumnNationsCuphttps://t.co/Y7ujy0CZZI

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 14, 2020