Michael Cheika has accused Eddie Jones of tarnishing his legacy with his “vitriolic” comments about Australia during the series whitewash over the Wallabies last summer, and denied claims England were disrespected by the Australian media during the tour.
Jones, whose side will equal their record winning streak of 14 if they beat the Wallabies on Saturday, stepped on to the offensive before the 3-0 series win in June, revealing his plans to play “Bodyline” rugby, and claimed having his bag searched at Brisbane airport was part of a “coordinated” plan to help the Wallabies win the first Test.
The England head coach was then incensed by Fox Sports’ Stephen Hoiles, whose lines of post-match questioning were laced with sexual innuendo, and accused the Australian broadcaster of a “disgusting and demeaning” promotional video in the build-up to the first Test.
Jones’s comments were, on the whole, directed at the press but Cheika believes his former Randwick team-mate overstepped the mark. “There was a lot of vitriol about Australia – his home nation where he coached and where his opportunities were given to him to catch and grow up as a coach and play,” said Cheika. “Personally, if you’re looking to leave a legacy somewhere, you don’t want to hit back at it, do you?
“I certainly wasn’t [disrespecting England] and the players weren’t. I don’t think the media did either. [Hoiles] gave him a serve as a joke in a press conference. I think he has called him since and said it was a joke. I think [Hoiles] was a bit rattled by it as he’s only new in the media. For a kid like him it’s his career. It might be fun and games for the other guy, but for a kid like [Hoiles] he is trying to build his career, but there was no disrespect. That’s the way she rolls.”
After England had won the series with their second Test triumph in Melbourne the New Zealand head coach, Steve Hansen, accused Chieka of being bullied by Jones. Cheika, however, defended his refusal to enter into a war of words with Jones at the time.
“In June, maybe I gave the opportunity to see how a former Australian would deal with it. It was a bit like a goal-scorer who scores against his old team. I suppose it is always difficult where you go back against a team you have coached before and don’t know how to play it,” he said.
“Do you stay reserved or get stuck into them? I know what I would do. But that’s the choice he makes if he thinks it’s best for his team.”
Following England’s win over Argentina, Jones said he would be meeting the referee on Saturday, Jaco Peyper, to discuss Australia’s scrummaging and last week appeared to strike his first blow nine days before the Wallabies arrive at Twickenham – describing the Pumas as the second best team in the Rugby Championship despite finishing fourth.
After Australia’s 27-24 defeat by Ireland on Saturday, Cheika shrugged off Jones’s scrummaging jibe but was more angry that his side lost the penalty count 13-3 and said he would be seeking a meeting with Alain Rolland, the World Rugby referees chief.
But asked if he had heard from Rolland, Cheika said: “No I haven’t. He hasn’t got back to me. You’ll have to ring him and ask him where it’s at. I can’t be answering questions on his behalf. I made my calls the other night, and the ball’s in their court now. If they do want to get back to us, I don’t know.”
Elliot Daly has been banned for three weeks following his red card during England’s 27-14 win over Argentina on Saturday.
Daly, who accepted that he had committed an act of foul play, was sent off in the fifth minute of the match for tackling Argentina’s Leanardo Senatore in the air.
A statement from World Rugby’s disciplinary committee read: “The disciplinary committee found that Mr Daly had acted recklessly and that the offending merited a mid-range entry point based on World Rugby’s scale of seriousness, which carries a six-week playing suspension. There were no aggravating factors and that there were a number of mitigating factors (including Mr Daly’s acknowledgement of wrongdoing, expression of remorse to the injured player and his good conduct at the hearing) such that his playing suspension be reduced by three weeks.”
Nathan Hughes is available for England’s final autumn international against Australia on Saturday after taking a full part in training. Hughes missed the victory over Argentina with a foot injury but has been cleared to replace Billy Vunipola in the back row against the Wallabies at Twickenham in what would be his full Test debut.
Vunipola has been ruled out for at least three months after undergoing knee surgery, jeopardising his participation in the Six Nations, and Eddie Jones has already described the Fijian-born Hughes as the “obvious” replacement at No8.
“Nathan has done really well in camp since he joined, last week’s injury aside,” the forwards coach Steve Borthwick said. “Billy is a tremendous player who has done really well for us and has been a big figure in our team. But injuries are an opportunity for other players and what we’ve seen throughout this series is players coming in and taking chances presented by injury. This is another one of those opportunities. We have a lot of quality back-row forwards in the squad.”
