All a bit too chummy between rival coaches

Will someone tell the coaches that the Bledisloe Cup rugby match here tomorrow night is not a friendly?

Graham Henry and Eddie Jones couldn't be nicer heading into the first of the two trans-Tasman grudge matches for the season. Particularly Wallabies coach Jones.

Yesterday, at a press call at Sydney airport, he freely quoted and agreed with All Blacks coach Henry and his assistant Wayne Smith about various subjects, as he expounded on how the game might go.

There was "as Graham Henry said in South Africa..." and "as Wayne Smith has been quoted as saying".

And when he suggested there shouldn't be meetings between the coaches and referee before test matches, he added: "I am just repeating what Graham has said. That all we want is for the referees to referee the law."

Jones has got into slanging matches with coaching opponents in the past, most notably former England and Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward, but he was clearly enjoying the "nice" relationship with the All Blacks and the discomfort that causes any muckraking journos.

Pressed about whether he would "fire up" today, Jones replied that he had nothing to fire up about.

"We're concentrating on our preparation, Graham's concentrating on his preparation. It's been a nice week because there's actually been some focus on the rugby."

Jones was on his way to Canberra to attend an Australian Institute of Sport seminar on coaching.

"We've done all our work and it's a training free day. I am going to (Canberra to) improve my coaching. Obviously I need to, so I better work pretty hard today."

Jones has been under siege since his team lost their Tri-Nations opener against South Africa and were embroiled in controversy over late night socialising which resulted in squad member Matt Henjak being sent home. The Australian Rugby Union trophy cabinet is currently notable for its vacancies.

But he was able to joke about the headline in one of the Sydney papers: "Sack the coach, sack the captain".

Was he feeling the pressure? "No, not really, I'm just getting on with the job mate.

"You are always going to find in modern sport now if you lose a game or you lose two games, either you want the coach to be sacked or the captain to be sacked.

"It is par for the course. You have got to absorb that pressure and get on with it."

Earlier this week, Henry was asked if it felt strange to be in a pre-test buildup devoid of rancour after his experiences with Sir Clive and Springbok mentor Jake White.

"It's a bit boring, isn't it?"

Too right.

- NZPA