It has been the longest year for Michael Cheika and a few days before Australia’s 15th Test of the year, against England at Twickenham on Saturday, he preferred to talk about the match rather than exchange more barbs with Eddie Jones. Asked if the pair would enjoy a beer together after the match, the Wallabies’ head coach replied: “That is between me and him but I do not think there will be any problem with it.”
His tone did not suggest he would use it as an opportunity to pour the beer over the head of his England opposite number. The only time Cheika became animated during his media call to announce his side for the final international of the year, one that contains four changes from the team who started the defeat by Ireland last weekend, was when he was asked about the claim this week by the former Wallabies centre Glen Ella, who was used as an attack consultant by Jones during the summer tour of Australia, that Cheika still had nightmares about the 3-0 series whitewash.
“I would not say nightmares but you do not like losing, do you?” he said. “It’s funny, everyone is up in front of the bus when they have had a win. A guy like Glen in particular is always up in the front for a handout when he has had a win but when it is tough and you have to run uphill I have not seen that bloke or a few others around.”
Ella said before the tour that unless Cheika returned home with a record of at least 50%, he would face the sack. “I do not think Glen is working with England any more, so any Aussie who would support England against Australia, especially a guy who has played for the Wallabies, there’s got to be a reason why,” Cheika said.
“I don’t know if he’s bitter. Maybe they want to get us kicked out and have a job there, I’m not sure. We have improved since we last played England; we are going well and when that happens, as it did for us last year, you have to stay humble.”
Only one of Cheika’s changes is enforced, with Will Genia back in France with Stade Français, who are not obliged to release him for an international match played outside the official window. Cheika has reverted to the side who started the five-match tour with a crushing victory over Wales in Cardiff – apart from on the left wing, where the Fijian Sefanaia Naivalu, reputed to be the fastest player in Australian rugby, replaces Henry Speight.
The second-row Kane Douglas and the No8 Lopeti Timani return at forward, with Cheika sacrificing a lineout option in the back row for a ball carrier. “It will be a physical contest and Lopeti is a good player for that type of battle,” Cheika said. “Kane showed aggression when he came on against Ireland and the idea is to play good rugby, get stuck in, be physical and do all the things that we like to do. It is not about revenge for the summer: Test matches stand alone in their importance.”
Jones has not missed an opportunity to wind up Australia, questioning the legality of their scrummaging and saying that, although the Wallabies finished runners-up in the Rugby Championship, he thought Argentina were the best team in the tournament after New Zealand. “He is just geeing up,” Cheika said.
“He has always operated with a chip on his shoulder and now things are going well, and there is no chip, he is looking for one. He is respected in Australia, a coach who took us to the 2003 World Cup final when we did not expect to go well. He said he was not respected when he was in Australia in the summer but I don’t know where that comes from.”
Three of England’s national sides, both codes of rugby and cricket, are coached by Australians. Asked if he could see himself coaching another country, Cheika replied: “Probably not but, if a person decides to do that, that’s OK. No one was saying anything about it when Eddie was coaching Japan. Each to their own.”
England are looking to complete their first unbeaten year since 2003 when they defeated Jones’s Australia in the World Cup final and they have the opportunity to equal their record of 14 consecutive victories. Eight of Australia’s 14 Tests this year have finished in defeat and the loss in Dublin ended their grand slam quest.
“We are playing for a lot of pride,” Nick Phipps, Genia’s replacement at scrum-half, said. “Stephen Moore [Australia’s captain] has pointed out that this is the last time the 2016 side will play together. We have had some low periods this year and finishing it off as well as we can is important to us. We want to do it for the fans and the coaching staff. It is not about revenge for the summer; it is about us.”
