Australia boss Michael Cheika admits he isn't the brainiest... but backs his team to beat England with 'emotional intelligence' in crucial Rugby World Cup clash on Saturday

By Jonny Singer for MailOnline

Published: 11:00 EST, 2 October 2015 | Updated: 11:08 EST, 2 October 2015

Australia coach Michael Cheika has laughed off the claims by former England coach and Sportsmail columnist Sir Clive Woodward that his team lack intelligence. 

 Woodward had insisted they the Australians are 'not the brightest team' but Wallaby coach Cheika did not seem worried by the claims.

Ahead of his side's clash with England, Cheika admitted that his school marks were never the best, but hoped that his team would have the 'emotional intelligence' to beat England on Saturday night. 

Australia coach Michael Cheika laughed off the claims from former England coach Sir Clive Woodward

Australia coach Michael Cheika laughed off the claims from former England coach Sir Clive Woodward

Woodward had argued that Australia were 'not the brightest team' and Cheika conceded he was right

Woodward had argued that Australia were 'not the brightest team' and Cheika conceded he was right

'Mr Woodward's right,' he joked. 'I only got 300 out of 500 in my high school certificate.

'My mother wasn't happy with the results either, I can assure you. She begged me to study harder and somehow I got through, I don't know how. Fluked it, I suppose.

'Sometimes it's not intelligence but emotional intelligence that helps in this game. It's not the IQ, it's the EQ. So hopefully we've got a bit of EQ amongst us.

'We're doing our best for our country. I understand it's all a bit of fun and games, a bit of a snipe here and a snipe there, so I'm pretty comfortable with all that stuff.'

The Australia coach oversees his team's warm-up during their captain's run at Twickenham on Friday

The Australia coach oversees his team's warm-up during their captain's run at Twickenham on Friday

The Australian coach said he hoped his side would show enough 'emotional intelligence' to win on Saturday

The Australian coach said he hoped his side would show enough 'emotional intelligence' to win on Saturday

Ahead of the vital game, which England must win to keep their Rugby World Cup dreams alive, Australia conducted their captain's run at Twickenham to the sound of ACDC's 'Thunderstruck' playing on the stadium speakers.

'I'm not sure how the song came about. One of the coaches, Stephen Larkham, who's a slightly random type of fellow, just decided to turn it on at training one day earlier this week,' Cheika said.

'I didn't know much about it, I had to ask him about the song, it wouldn't always be my style of music, but I've come to love it now.

'It's just a bit of fun, it gets the players having a bit of a laugh. We want to enjoy our time playing the game.

'We know the pain and how difficult the game's going to be so we just want to have a bit of fun as well.' 

Australia will put England out of their own World Cup if they win at the home of rugby on Saturday evening

Australia will put England out of their own World Cup if they win at the home of rugby on Saturday evening

 

Comments (4)

Share what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now