England coach Eddie Jones says having a beer with friend and former teammate Michael Cheika can wait as he turned up the heat yesterday by talking about weaknesses in the Australia team.
Jones and his squad are to arrive in Brisbane today ahead of a three-Test series against the Wallabies, which has been given added spice because of the two opposing coaches.
Jones and Cheika are both Australian and have known each other for years, having played together at leading Sydney club Randwick. Both are also right at the top of their game.
Photo: AFP
England have yet to lose under Jones — their first overseas coach — after he guided them to a first Grand Slam in 13 years earlier this season, while Cheika was last year’s World Rugby Coach of the Year after leading the Wallabies to the World Cup final, where they lost to New Zealand 34-17.
However, the pleasantries can wait, Jones said.
“I’m sure at some stage we might [go out for a beer], but it’s not on the agenda at the moment,” he told the Australian newspaper.
Photo: AFP
“At the moment, Cheik’s got smoke and mirrors everywhere. I wouldn’t pay any credence to what he’s saying at the moment. The new, mellow Cheik has a lot of deception about him, so let’s just wait and see,” he said.
Jones is bringing a young squad with him — an average age of 24 — and has said it will be a big learning experience, but has also made clear they are in full siege-mentality mode.
“Playing the second-best team in the world in their own backyard is one of the greatest challenges and you know Australia is a hostile place for an overseas team,” Jones said.
“You know that everyone’s well coordinated in making sure it’s as difficult as possible, which is how it should be ... and we’ve got a young team,” he said.
He has picked four uncapped players in his 32-man squad — Worcester center Ben Te’o, Northampton back-rower Teimana Harrison, Bristol prop Ellis Genge, who is on loan at Leicester, and Harlequins prop Kyle Sinckler.
He also has plenty of experience, including Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi.
Despite playing on opposition territory against a quality Wallaby outfit who beat England in the World Cup the last time they met, Jones said there were weak links for his team to exploit.
“There’s definitely weaknesses in the Australian team, like any team,” he said. “There’s weaknesses in the All Blacks team, but you’ve got to be good enough to be able to explore them.”
“The way the Wallabies defend, they give you a very good chance to get at them and that’s something we’ll be looking at very closely,” he said.
The first Test is in Brisbane on Friday next week, with the second in Melbourne a week later, followed by Sydney on June 25.
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