Australia coach Michael Cheika belittled his academic achievements as he launched into verbal sparring ahead of Saturday’s crunch England-Australia World Cup match.
Cheika showed his intelligence when asked about comments by former England coach Clive Woodward that the Wallabies are “not the brightest” team. Australia could knock England out of the World Cup if they win at Twickenham on Saturday.
Woodward, England’s coach when they beat Australia in the 2003 World Cup final, told the Daily Mail that Cheika’s men could fold under pressure.
“Contrary to popular belief, they are not the brightest team, they give away penalties and pick up yellow cards when they’re stretched,” he said.
Cheika, who speaks several languages, jokingly responded to Woodward’s comments by telling a news conference: “Mr Woodward’s right, I only got 300 out of 500 in my high-school certificate.
“My mother wasn’t happy with the results, I can assure you. She begged me to study harder. But somehow I got through, I don’t know how — fluked it, I suppose.”
Cheika, who can boast a fortune from the fashion business as well as international success as a coach, went on: “Sometimes it’s not intelligence but emotional intelligence that helps in this game — it’s not the IQ (intelligence quotient) it’s the EQ (emotional quotient).
“So hopefully we’ve got a bit of EQ amongst us. We are loving our time together and we are doing our best for our country.
“I understand it’s all a bit of fun and games and a bit of a snipe here, a snipe there, I’m pretty comfortable with all that stuff,” added the 48-year-old who has revived Australia in the 11 months he has been in charge.
Cheika said he had no interest in reviving the pre-match sparring that became commonplace when Woodward was in charge of an England team playing against an Australia side coached by Eddie Jones.
“It’s not a policy, it’s just my nature,” he said. “I know it’s all a bit of fun that stuff, but at the end of the day it’s irrelevant,” added Cheika.
“I believe a lot in my own players so I don’t think having a crack at other players, it’s all a bit of show, I don’t think that’s what I am here to be doing, others can do that,” Cheika said.
Australia, who have won both of their ‘Pool of Death’ matches so far, against Fiji and Uruguay, will go through to the quarter-finals with victory on Saturday.