Michael Cheika wary of England despite their poor performance in warm-ups
Michael Cheika does not want to take England lightly despite their recent defeats
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Argentina head coach Michael Cheika insisted that his side will not be taking England lightly when the two teams lock horns with each other in the Rugby World Cup opener despite their indifferent form leading into the tournament.
England have endured tough results since Steve Borthwick took over as the head coach from Eddie Jones having finished fifth in the Six Nations tournament and lost three out of the four Rugby World Cup warm-up matches that includes a defeat to Fiji for the first time.
They will also be without regular skipper Owen Farrell for the first two games due to a suspension but despite their setbacks to the showpiece event, Cheika believes England will be a firm challenge when the two teams meet at Orange Velodrome on 9th September.
"I’m not going to pretend I don’t know there hasn’t been a lot going on,’ said Cheika when asked by Mail Sport.
"What I do know is England’s team is full of quality players. I’m sure we’re going to see those quality players when it comes to the game in Marseille."
Argentina had a couple of close defeats against South Africa and managed to edge out Australia in the Rugby Championship. Having thrashed Spain 62-3 in the previous warm-up game, they have the momentum heading into the World Cup but Cheika has urged the side to improve further.
"I feel really good about our preparation," he added.
"We’ve been low key. We’ve had no distractions. We’ve handled any type of adversity that’s come our way pretty well. We’ve been working and training hard. There is still a bit to go.
"We’re not exactly where we need to be right now. There’s still a bit more building to go to get into the tournament but we’ve got that time now before the England game. I’m really happy."
