THE WEEK OF WIND-UPS HAS BEGUN!
MICHAEL CHEIKA was in full wind-up mode yesterday as the Wallabies head coach cast doubt on Eddie Jones’s decision to invite an Australia rugby icon into the England camp this week.
With the countries preparing to collide in a World Cup quarter-final in Oita on Saturday, Cheika decided to light the fuse — and even used England football manager Gareth Southgate to help him do so.
When he was asked about Ricky Stuart, head coach of the Canberra Raiders rugby league team, joining up with the England squad here on the island of Kyushu, he revealed a surprise sporting alliance.
‘Obviously they would be mates I imagine, so it’s all good. It’d be like, I’m friends with Gareth Southgate but I don’t know if I’d be wanting him in here the week we’re playing England.
‘It must be weird for the players having an Aussie in there, because Ricky is a legend.
‘I know Ricky. I’ve known him from way back. He’s a good guy. I love his passion for the game.’
Cheika explained how he had come to know Southgate, adding: ‘We went to one of those conferences where there are eight or nine different coaches. There were a few of us from Australia, a few Brits, a few different guys. It was in America, in Minnesota, before one of the Super Bowl weekends and we had a great old time.
‘He was a lovely chap, I really like his style. He’s a good man.’
Since Jones took charge of England, Cheika has been eclipsed by his former club-mate. Six English wins out of six have invariably been preceded by their head coach dominating the mind games. But Cheika was in his element yesterday, bullish and assertive as he sought to set the agenda before his rival raises his head above the parapet.
He described his relationship with Jones as ‘fine’, but it didn’t stop him aiming a few jibes. Days after Jones had claimed that the ‘typhoon gods must be smiling’ on England as their Pool C clash with France was cancelled, Cheika said: ‘I don’t want to be lucky or have the gods smile on me or anything like that. I just want us to play and play the best we can and the cards will fall where they do.’
What did he make of England’s swift exit from Tokyo for a minicamp back in Miyazaki?
‘Well they got the early heads-up didn’t they, so they could get down there early,’ he said.
‘ They must have known on Wednesday or so because they’ve been down there since Thursday. They’ve obviously been organised. That’s good for them.’
Then he was asked for an analysis of England and all he offered was: ‘I don’t really have one, mate. Lots of respect but I’m not a big analyser of the opposition. We’ll be ready to get the job done.
‘I’m just a believer. Call me a sucker, I believe in my lads.
‘I know there’s other people who won’t give us much of a chance but when you believe in yourself, you are much closer to being able to create history. That’s what we want to do.’