EDDIE JONES’ best-mate says he will HATE being beaten by Australia and nemesis Michael Cheika.
Glen Ella – who coached England when they whitewashed the Wallabies Down Under in 2016 and again in Argentina this summer – played with both Jones and Cheika at Randwick Rugby club in Sydney.
The ex Aussie international is not involved this time, but will be cracking out the popcorn to watch his old mates go head-to-head at Twickenham on Saturday.
Ella told Fox Sports Australia: “You’ve got that rivalry between Cheika and Eddie.
“Being so close to a Rugby World Cup, to beat one of your nemeses would be a great advantage. Obviously Eddie hates losing to anybody, but he’ll hate losing to Australia even more.
“But the pressure’s on both coaches. It’s sort of us against them. They won’t say that, but that’ll be on. Australia’s going to be a big test for England and that will give them an idea of where they are.”
Ex Wallabies coach Jones has enjoyed a 4-0 record over his old buddy since taking the Twickenham hotseat almost two years ago.
Though Cheika has finally got his side playing some decent rugby – thanks largely to playmaker Kurtley Beale going home after a one-year stint with Wasps in the Premiership.
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Ella added: “Jones will be worried about Kurtley.
“The type of player that he is at no.12 – he can do anything. When Kurtley’s playing at 12 he opens up the space for others out wide.
“And Australia are in a much, much better position than they were last year. Cheika’s started to stick with the same team and he’s starting to get some good combinations.
“This is going to be a really big test for England to see if they’ve still got that gap or if that gap’s closed. If you’re looking at last year, the Wallabies played really well for 25 minutes and then died in the backside, but they’ll run the distance this time.
“That’ll be a worry for England. They’re much fitter, their skill levels have increased. They’re not dropping the ball or doing stupid things like they once were. They’re nearly a complete team now.
“England were just waiting for the Wallabies to fall over last year, but that won’t happen this year.”
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