Eddie Jones has appeared to criticise Welsh referee Nigel Owens ahead of the Welshman taking charge of England’s Six Nations opener against France.
The Aussie, who led England to the 2019 World Cup final, when speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast, made a point of bringing up Owens, saying: “France are always a good team, we know there is the massive influence being at home.
Nigel Owens just yellow carded the ball boy! 😂😂😂pic.twitter.com/ScGimuPo1G
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“The referee we’ve got in the first game has got a 91 per cent winning record for home teams.
“That shows you how hard it is to win.
“We’re going to have to play exceptionally well to win that game and that’s a great challenge for us because we’re going to have to manage the referee.”