Warren Gatland has said that he will show new England coach ‘no mercy’ during Six Nations encounter

Warren Gatland has said that he will show new England coach Steve Borthwick “no mercy” when England visits Cardiff during the Six Nations championship.

The new Wales coach said that he was “hugely impressed” with Borthwick when they worked together on the Lions tour in the 2017 tour to New Zealand.

However, he added: “While I wish Steve all the best in his new job, he can expect no mercy when England travel to Cardiff to face Wales in February.

“Our victory over England in Cardiff in 2019 was one of the most enjoyable of my career.”

Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, Warren Gatland also took a swipe at previous England coach Eddie Jones who he said demanded Steve Borthwick analyse England’s tour to Argentina during the Lions trip to New Zealand.

“He ended up working night and day to get all the things that he had to do completed. It was really tough for him, and I felt for him. He ended up doing two jobs on a Lions tour,” he said.

Of Borthwick, Gatland says: “There is no doubt about his technical ability but when you become head coach of an international side you are faced with a lot more challenges than just the rugby side of things and often you just have to learn on the job and Steve needs to realise there are going to be some big challenges ahead and learning experiences as well.

“My biggest piece of advice for Steve is to make sure that he gets the right people in place around him, coaches that he wants and trusts, support, and establishes the sense of continuity and stability that was missing under Eddie because of the constant churn in staff and players.”

Wales will face England at the Principality Stadium in their third weekend of fixtures on 25 February.