Cheika not bugged about Hansen’s Cooper pick

Michael Cheika has laughed off the manner in which his counterpart Steve Hansen correctly predicted his backline for today’s test at Eden Park, joking that the All Blacks coach might have bugged the Wallabies’ hotel or watched their training this week.

Cheika named his team only yesterday morning, and as Hansen predicted, selected Bernard Foley at No 10 and Reece Hodge outside him at second- five. There is no room in the starting line- up for Quade Cooper, as Hansen tipped.

The Wallabies coach made a pointed reference to “spy- gate” with his response to Hansen’s comments. The Wallabies have been staying this week at the same hotel — the Intercontinental at Sydney’s Double Bay — where the All Blacks discovered a listening device in August, which set off a firestorm of speculation as to who planted it. The police investigation is continuing.

“Really?” Cheika said following the Wallabies’ captain’s run at Eden Park when informed of Hansen’s prediction.

“Well, the bug’s obviously not working any more so he must have had someone there watching it [ train- ing]. I don’t know, he must have known somehow.”

Cheika, who insisted the delay in naming his team was due to recent injuries, added: “It’s a pretty standard thing for me to look at that combination now [ Foley and Hodge]. I’ve wanted to for a bit but I’ve thought that other combination was working well.”

Cheika, who has presided over two Wallabies defeats to the All Blacks this year and i s returning to a ground where Australia have not won in 30 years, said he was excited, rather than worried, about the contest.

There is a world record on the line for the All Blacks — another win will take them to 18 test victories in a row. The Wallabies, meanwhile, face one of their own. A defeat will mean they have been swept by two nations in two series in the same year for the first time. Earlier this year England beat them 3- 0 in a series in Australia.

“For me personally, I love going into the lion’s den. It’s fun, that’s what rugby is about, going into the tough contests, getting stuck into it . . . and then as we always say, we’ll see where the cards fall after that.”

Cheika said he wouldn’t bother meeting with referee Nigel Owens, whom he has complained about pre- viously, before the test. Cheika was animated in his anger about the All Blacks meeting touch judge Jaco Peyper ( at Peyper’s request) before the most recent defeat in Wellington in August, but said there was little point in meeting Owens, who he admitted was the No 1 ref in the world.

That Wellington test, won 29- 9 by the All Blacks, was also notable for the niggle dished out by the Wallabies.

“We’ve spoken about that,” skipper Stephen Moore said. “We want to play the game our way. The physical part of the game is always so important here . . . you need to be smart about how you play that.”