England head coach Eddie Jones believes the Lions will struggle

Eddie Jones Photo INPHO/Andrew Foske.

England boss Eddie Jones believes the British and Irish Lions will struggle to beat New Zealand due to the Welsh influence in the squad.

Lions coach Warren Gatland, who is currently on a sabbatical from his role in charge of the Welsh national side, has included 12 Wales players in his 41-man squad for the three-Test tour.

England, meanwhile, make up the biggest percentage of the squad with 16 players.

The Lions squad also boasts a healthy contingent of Irish players - 11 in total - but Gatland controversially chose to include just two Scots in his squad.

Jones believes Gatland will attempt to play a similar style of rugby to Wales and expects the tourists to struggle when they come up against the All Blacks next month.

"I think it's going to be very tough for them," Jones told former England international Brian Moore on his Full Contact podcast with the Telegraph.

"They picked their squad to play a certain style based on the influence of Wales.

"They are looking to attack like Wales, with big gain line runners, not much ball movement. You'll struggle to beat the All Blacks like that.

"If they win the first Test they could win the series. If they don't, it might be a tough old series for them."

Jones was speaking after his side's 28-14 win over the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.

England will fly out to Argentina for a two-match Test series later this month and Jones is expecting nothing other than victory against the Pumas.

"We want to win 2-0. Anything other than that will be disappointing and the players understand that," he said.