Warren Gatland has advised Eddie Jones to âconcentrate on the Scotland matchâ after the England boss claimed Wales were showing signs of fatigue.
Wales will secure the Six Nations title and a Grand Slam if they beat Ireland in Cardiff on Saturday.
England still have hopes of silverware, but they need to beat Scotland at Twickenham, while also requiring an Ireland victory over Wales.
Jones said on Thursday that Wales were âstarting to look a bit tiredâ after making âmore tackles than anyone else in the tournament,â and were facing an Ireland side âthat seems to be peaking at the right time.â
When the Australianâs comments were put to him, Wales head coach Gatland corrected the Autralian, pointing out that it is actually England who have made most tackles in the tournament â 793 compared to Walesâ 660.
Gatland, laughing, said: âWhat the hell is Eddie Jones doing talking about our game?
âIf it was me, I would be concentrating on playing Scotland. Iâve got no comment on Eddie Jones talking about us.
âIf you look at the stats, England have made a hell of a lot more tackles than us in this tournament. My advice to Eddie is to concentrate on the Scotland match.â
Wales are bidding for a third Grand Slam under Gatland â it would be a record for any Five or Six Nations coach if his players accomplish it â and also leave them in great shape six months before their World Cup challenge in Japan.
âI pride myself on the record Iâve had in big matches when it has really mattered,â added Gatland, ahead of his final Six Nations game as Wales head coach before he steps down later this year.
âI even get more of a buzz when people write us off, which has happened on a number of occasions before.
âItâs about building belief and confidence in the players. Weâve worked in the (Six Nations) down weeks and weâve trained as hard as any team I have seen.
âWeâve put that training in the bank, and there is no way anyone is training as hard as us in this Six Nations.
âIf you want something bad enough and you really believe it can happen, then it often does.â
Gatland, meanwhile, readily acknowledges Irelandâs threat, particularly the one presented by their British & Irish Lions half-backs Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray.
Wales face a tough task as they welcome reigning Six Nations champions Ireland to Cardiff for a Grand Slam decider.
âIt will be the same approach we had with England,â he said. âWe put Ben Youngs and Owen Farrell under pressure, and Conor and Johnny are key.
âWhen weâve had success against Ireland in the past, weâve tried to put pressure on Conor and Johnny and shut their space down.
âThere is no doubt that when Johnny gets front-foot ball he controls the game exceptionally well. We saw against England that when we did put pressure on Owen, we got some success from that.
âItâs very much part of the game. You look at opposition 10s and where their strengths are, and you try to negate some of those strengths.
âJohnny is world player of the year and absolutely world-class.
âWeâve got to put him under pressure, but in saying that Ireland have world-class players all over the place and they can keep the ball for long phases.â