Thursday 15 March 2018 17:40, UK
Warren Gatland has warned England they could face an extended slump if they do no beat Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.
On the same day that England head coach Eddie Jones declined to expand beyond the apology he issued for having referred to Joe Schmidt's newly-crowned champions as the "scummy Irish" and Wales as a "little s*** country", Gatland cranked up the pressure on the Australian.
England are intent on preventing Ireland from completing the Grand Slam but their confidence has been dented by a two-match losing run that has seen them surrender the title to Schmidt's men with a round to spare.
Once the Six Nations has been completed, a three-Test tour to South Africa awaits followed by autumn fixtures against the Springboks and New Zealand, prompting Gatland to suggest bleaker times may lie ahead for Eddie Jones' team.
"I don't think the pressure for England is about the comments. The pressure for England is about winning on Saturday," Wales head coach Gatland said.
"That's the pressure they are under, because they have to win on Saturday. That's how important the game is to them because if they lose against Ireland they then have three games against South Africa.
"So they can go from a losing streak of two to six pretty quickly. They have got their own things to sort out."
Jones was forced to apologise on Wednesday night after footage emerged of him making offensive comments against Wales and Ireland during a corporate talk on leadership given in Japan last year.
Speaking publicly on the matter for the first time at England's team announcement press conference on Thursday, Jones refused to comment beyond adding to his apology.
"I'd just like to say I've apologised for the remarks. I sincerely mean that. I really don't have anything else to say on the matter."
Jones insisted the comments will have little influence on the desire of Schmidt's men to complete only the third tournament clean sweep in their history.
"Ireland are preparing for a Grand Slam, they don't need any extra motivation," Jones said.
