Wallabies coach Michael Cheika isn’t concerned about his 0-6 record against Eddie Jones
As the Wallabies did their best to dodge Typhoon Hagibis, Michael Cheika stoked the rivalry with Eddie Jones by saying ‘I suppose they better win judging by what their coach has been saying’.
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Michael Cheika has swatted away his fragile 0-6 coaching slate against Eddie Jones by giving his nemesis the first verbal tickle of an epic World Cup week where wind is everywhere.
The winner-take-all quarter-final against Eddie’s England in Oita on Saturday will shape coaching futures as well as the legacy of a host of seasoned Test footballers.
The public words were all a bit of a sideshow for Wallabies players who were whisked onto a Cup bus with military precision at 11pm after the below-par win over Georgia on Friday night to beat the wild advance of Typhoon Hagibis.
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With Saturday’s bullet train to Tokyo cancelled because of winds of 150km-plus, pelting rain and flooding, Wallabies’ management expertly synched the bus, on-board meals and revised hotel bookings for their camp base at Odawara two-and-a-half hours away.
“It was quite hectic, pretty funny looking back, and everyone passed out pretty quick about 3am when I got to bed,’ vice-captain Samu Kerevi said.
If only the Wallabies’ attack in the clunky 27-8 win was as precise because non-stop rain was no excuse for half the handling errors in Shizuoka when pushing the play was to blame.
Being safe in familiar training surroundings with re-scheduled flights to Oita on Wednesday, rather than Monday, is a win in such a super-storm and means the Wallabies are not behind Jones’ English who headed to Oita last Thursday.
The bus trip was an accidental bonding night because you have to be adaptable to succeed at a World Cup.
“We had music jamming, guys watching Netflix, boys throwing jokes, some guys sleeping, some guys eating and we put the windows down and tried to taste the rain,” Kerevi said.
“It was an awesome trip. Massive credit to the staff for organising it so well because we understand you can’t tell a typhoon to go away.”
Cheika is excited for a stoush which can create more history for one of rugby’s epic rivalries.
He gave Jones, his friend and rival from Randwick club days in Sydney, a reminder that England is supposed to win.
“Well, I saw he was saying that (a clear training stretch with the cancelled game against France) would be an advantage and the typhoon gods were smiling on him,” Cheika said.
“So I suppose they’d better win.
“They’ve had the best preparation, according to the coach, so they’d better go out there and win.”
The Wallabies are still confounding because it’s the back play which needs fixing.
The improvements in the forward work have been obvious and that is one reason to imagine a far closer contest than the second half blowout for a 37-18 loss at Twickenham last November.
A far more reliable lineout, man-of-the-match lock Izack Rodda winning three steals against Georgia, way better long throwing from hooker Tolu Latu...that’s 100 per cent up on last year and the scrum is better, too.
When the “0-6” record of their Australia-England clashes was thrown at Cheika, he had a ready answer for Jones and anyone listening.
“Well mate, I don’t really care to be honest because the only relevance is Saturday,” Cheika said.
“It’s going to come down to who’s ready on kickoff.”
Fullback Kurtley Beale failed his initial head knock assessment when he came off but the camp is confident the eight-day turnaround gives him a good chance of being fit for England.
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Winger Reece Hodge has also ended his three-game suspension and will come back into selection reckoning.
“He’s been training really hard the last three weeks and we’re just happy the hashtag #FreeHodgey has come into play and he’s back,” Kerevi said.
Cheika takes pride in his team kicking the least of any top international side but it was baffling that new five-eighth Matt Toomua so ignored the conditions that he didn’t kick in the first half.
“I thought he was solid. He gave good direction and his chat was good,” Cheika said.
“We knew the conditions were tricky, our carrying was strong but I thought we did drop a bit too much ball and we’ll definitely have to fix that up.”
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