Australia coach Michael Cheika keen to focus on England game
Saturday 3 December 2016 18:59, UK
Australia head coach Michael Cheika has been involved in a war of words with his England counterpart Eddie Jones this week but he feels the time for mind games has now passed.
The sides face each other at Twickenham on Saturday - live on Sky Sports - where the Wallabies will look to make partial amends for their 3-0 series drubbing at the hands of England in June.
Jones has told Cheika he could regret his verbal attack on Dan Cole, where the Australia coach criticised the Leicester prop for his scrummaging technique, but Cheika insists he is now focused solely on the match.
"The fun is over now. Kick-off is 24 hours away and the players take over now," he said. "The players are in charge and the team that plays best on the day will win.
"The real focus behind the scenes is making sure that we have got the right tactics, that we are ready physically, and that our team is in a good space at the moment to play rugby.
"All the other stuff is just a sideline. It's a bit of fun and a laugh, but the time for that is over and it's about concentrating on the match now.
"We've had a bit of fun with it all, but the fun business really starts on Saturday when the players get out there and get stuck into each other."
Live International Rugby Union
Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price. Hurry, offer ends December 4th!
