Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has responded to Steve Hansen's latest barbs with a measured response this morning, saying he isn't sure what his All Blacks counterpart is "upset" about.
The tension between the pair has been simmering since June when Hansen suggested Cheika was happy to be bullied by Eddie Jones during England's whitewash of the Wallabies in Australia.
Hansen continued the verbal sparring on arrival in Sydney yesterday for Saturday's Bledisloe Cup test, responding to Cheika's suggestion the All Blacks would have tough decisions to make about the selections of openside flanker and first-five - given the form of Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett - by saying Cheika had "enough problems of his own" ahead of the match.
In a press conference in Sydney this morning, Cheika was immediately grilled by Australian journalists about the apparent feud, and responded by saying: "That's pretty cool I suppose because that's what they really think - our problem is that we've got nothing and we're going up against the world No1. That's what they really think, so I understand what he's staying, we'll just be doing our best when we play them. I know not many people are expecting us, as he isn't, to do much with that but we'll prepare to our best and see how we go."
When asked about the "spice" in the exchanges between the pair in the media, Cheika said: "When you say spice, I'm not sure if there's anything from our end in regards to that. I suppose they're thinking that we're the ones who have something to prove.
