Cheika shrugs off Hansen’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ jibe

Australia head coach Michael Cheika has brushed off Steve Hansen’s “Mickey Mouse” jibe ahead of the Bledisloe Cup opener in Perth on Saturday.

New Zealand head coach Hansen labelled Cheika as the cartoon character during a fundraising event in Wellington in February.

Hansen was reacting to a statement brought up by former Australia player Mark Ella, who stated: “Mickey Mouse could coach the All Blacks to victory.”

The wily Hansen quipped: “They’ve got Mickey Mouse coaching Aussie”, but Cheika shrugged off the comment when asked about it two days before the trans-Tasman rivals do battle at Optus Stadium.

“Oh mate, is that even a question?” Cheika said when asked about Hansen’s words.

“No drama for me.”

He added: “There is certain things in footy that you… respect is an important thing in footy.

“It’s the nature of the game, you rip into each other and then you socialise after.”

WATCH | All Blacks coach Steve Hansen discusses the matchday 23 to take on the Wallabies in Perth on Saturday night.

FULL TEAM ➡️ https://t.co/2q6pKR1rSF pic.twitter.com/OYGR4ve5C1

— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 8, 2019

Hansen said too much has been made of what he said six months ago.

“I never said he was Mickey Mouse. What I said was in a throwaway line, or something said in jest after an interviewer said to me Mark Ella thinks Mickey Mouse could coach the All Blacks because they have got so much talent,” the 60-year-old stated on Thursday.

“And I just said, ‘Well he can’t because he’s in Australia, coaching Australia’. So you can make a big thing out of it if you want, or you can take it for what it was. Something in jest.

“I have got plenty of respect for what Michael has done. End of story, really.”

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