The England and Australia coaches used to be teammates – these days they seem to enjoy winding each other up
Over the past four years, and particularly since England’s tour of Australia in the summer of 2016, Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika have repeatedly demonstrated the spirit which once led Jones to describe his former teammate as “a decent player – but an outstanding sledger”. To mention the other’s name in either man’s company has been akin to feeding a few coins into a jukebox, allowing journalists to simply sit back and listen to the wonderful sound of headlines writing themselves.
Before England’s visit to Australia in 2016 Cheika predicted that “there will be a bit of banter when the tour comes and that’s good fun because we both enjoy that”, and scene duly set three years later the coaches are preparing for a World Cup quarter-final that has come to be billed the Battle of the Big Mouths.
Written by Simon Burnton
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/17/rugby-world-cup-battle-of-the-big-mouths-eddie-jones-michael-cheika under the title “Rugby World Cup’s Battle of the Big Mouths: Eddie Jones v Michael Cheika | Simon Burnton”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
