The former Leinster coach knows loyalty.
Revenge will be on Michael Cheika’s mind as his Australia side take on England at Twickenham this weekend.
There has always been undertones of bitterness between Cheika and Eddie Jones. The Australian pair traded verbal barbs during the summer as England romped to a 3-0 series whitewash against the Wallabies.
The two are very familiar with mind games and it seems that Cheika has dealt the first blow in what will likely be a week of back-to-back shots between the pair.
The former Leinster coach spoke to the NZ Herald ahead of the weekend’s clash and he accused Jones of damaging his own legacy.
“In June, maybe I gave him the opportunity to be like the goalscorer who scores against his old team. It’s always difficult when you go back into a tournament against teams you have coached before and you don’t know how to play it.
“Do you go reserved or get stuck into them? I know what I’d do.”
Cheika clearly has an issue with Jones and, in particular, with the criticism that he dishes out towards the country of his birth.
He believes that people in Australia will remember Jones for these types of comments rather than his successes which include leading his country to the World Cup final in 2003 or masterminding Japan to a shock win against South Africa in the most recent World Cup.
Cheika knows himself that this wouldn’t be his way of approaching things and implied that he would never make those comments about Ireland, a country in which he coached between 2005 and 2010.
“Even in a country like Ireland where I coached for many years. But that is the choice he wants to make and thinks that is the best for his team.”
If there was any doubt about Cheika’s animosity towards Jones, they quickly vanished when he made the following comment:
“Personally, if you want to leave a legacy somewhere you don’t hit back at it do you when you leave.”Â
We look forward to seeing what Jones’ response will be later in the week.
Have the popcorn ready.
Dick Clerkin makes his GAA Hour debut to talk about a wonderful career and argue passionately with Colm Parkinson over Sky Sports GAA. Subscribe here on iTunes.
