Jones v Cheika: Final showdown between two of Australia's most vocal coaches
They were teammates in the 1980s, firebrands for one of Australia’s most storied rugby clubs.
Three decades on, Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika are bickering coaches with an often-gnarly relationship that could reach a crescendo this weekend.
England against Australia at a Rugby World Cup is always a must-watch – Saturday’s quarter-final is the seventh meeting between the teams in just nine editions of the competition.
But the presence of two outspoken, fiercely passionate coaches in the corner for both teams adds to the allure.
In the white corner of England is Jones, a 59-year-old former hooker who considers pre-game barbs and mind games as a vital part of the build-up to a Test match.
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In the green-and-gold corner of Australia is Cheika, a no-nonsense 52-year-old former backrower who also shoots from the hip and never takes a backward step.
When they clash, it can be explosive.
Just don’t be fooled by some fairly gentle comments from Jones on Thursday, when asked for his assessment of the Cheika and the Wallabies.
“I’m proud of the job he does,” Jones said. “He’s a good old mate of mine.”
It hasn’t felt that way over the past three years.
Jones and Cheika go back a long way.
In the late 80s when they were players for Randwick, which has spawned a raft of great Australia internationals including Ken Catchpole, Mark Ella and David Campese.
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Jones had a Japanese-American mother. Cheika was the son of Lebanese immigrants.
Solid pros for the Galloping Greens, neither ever went on to play for Australia.
However, they’d go on to be head coach of their national team, both losing World Cup finals but having plenty of success elsewhere in their careers.
They have only really crossed each other’s paths in coaching circles since the 2015 World Cup, after which Jones became England’s first ever overseas head coach.
Perhaps Cheika saw that as some sort of an affront
“It always hurts me when there’s an Aussie over there,” he said Thursday.
That might explain the antagonism between the pair that really kicked off in 2016.
George Ford's demotion from the England side to start versus Australia has sparked an online debate ahead of the quarter-final https://t.co/2KYNViEyG1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 17, 2019
During England’s three-Test tour of Australia that year, which the visitors swept in unprecedented fashion, Jones said on arrival, in what felt very much like sarcasm, that Cheika was the “best coach in the world.”
Cheika had been voted coach of the year in 2015 after turning Australia from a shambolic squad into a World Cup finalist.
Jones, who was coaching Japan at the 2015 World Cup, later added that he felt he was disrespected by Australia on his return to his homeland.
Whether he genuinely felt that, or it was simply a psychological ruse, Cheika bit.
He accused Jones of damaging his own “legacy” with his incendiary remarks about Australia, bemoaning his counterpart’s “vitriol” toward the country where “opportunities were given to him to catch and grow up as a coach and play.”
Cheika didn’t like the way Jones organised a coaches’ meeting with match officials ahead of Wallabies’ game against England later in 2016 at Twickenham, which they lost.
“I wouldn’t know him if I didn’t play footy with him,” Cheika said, referring to their Randwick connection.
“We wouldn’t have associated.”
Days later, Cheika said Jones “always operated with a chip on his shoulder.” The following year, before another meeting at Twickenham won by England, they clashed over talking about referees to the media.
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At this World Cup in Japan, Cheika couldn’t resist reacting to some cheeky comments by Jones about the “typhoon gods” smiling on the English after their pool game against France was called off because of the destructive Typhoon Hagibis, therefore giving England an extra week of rest before the quarter-finals.
“So I suppose they’d better win,” Cheika said.
“They’ve had the best preparation, according to the coach, so they’d better go out there and win.”
There might be a healthy dose of respect between them for their abilities as coaches, and they may even share a glass of red wine after Saturday’s match in Oita.
But it’s clear these two strong-willed and uncompromising characters rub each other the wrong way.
‘Even experts, we can’t tell on some of the concussions. It's a very diverse, varied sort of reaction to head injury. Every person is different’
– Dr Rahul Jandial on what message @owen_faz not needing @rugbyworldcup HIAs sends out to grassroots rugby https://t.co/qXyyECYsjl— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 17, 2019
Losing a quarter-final match at the World Cup will be painful enough for Jones and Cheika, who are unlikely to be in charge of their respective teams for the 2023 tournament.
Seeing their opposite number prevailing after their recent verbal jousting will make it a touch worse.
It was left to Jones to revive his and Cheika’s Randwick past by referencing one of the club’s recently deceased greats, Jeff Sayle, who has been praised for influencing the career paths of four Wallabies coaches – Bob Dwyer, Ewen McKenzie, Jones and now Cheika.
“There will be a bloke in the sky who will be quite excited about Michael and I coaching against each other this week,” Jones said with a smile.
“I’m sure he’s having a few beers next to St. Peter now, looking at the situation.”
– AAP
Former Australian international Matt Giteau sat down with RugbyPass to discuss his memories of playing in three World Cups:
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
5 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
5 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments