“Because we can, why not?”
Those five words were Wallabies backrower Lukhan Salakaia-Loto’s blunt response in a tense press conference on Monday as he summed up the reasons why his team believes it can beat England in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final.
The Wallabies have lost their past six matches against England, dating back to 2016, and will go into Saturday’s quarter-final in Oita as $3.60 outsiders.
Already this Rugby World Cup has thrown up surprises of all scales on and off the field and asked why he believed Australia could beat England, Salakaia-Loto’s response was swift.
“Because we can, why not?,” he said.
“We all believe it, we're not just going to sit here and go, 'Oh, don't think we believe it,' of course we can.
“We all believe that we can do whatever we want to do, if we put our minds to it.”
Salakaia-Loto put the query back at the journalist as well.
“Do you believe we can beat England?,” he said.
When a ‘Not sure’ came back, he reiterated his confidence.
“Really? That's your problem then. We believe we can beat them.”
Salakaia-Loto’s response was a frosty moment in a generally icy press conference where Salakaia-Loto and teammates Adam Coleman and Tolu Latu found themselves barely holding back laughter at one question posed by an English journalist, labelling it a "complete joke."
The flanker was asked what he thought of Michael Cheika and whether he was a caring man or a different person behind the scenes than what the public see.
He gave a short, somewhat sarcastic response as his teammates attempted to stifle their giggles, saying, “Nah he's mean, he's a bully, bullies everyone. He's good, man, good fella".
When asked whether it was simply awkward to talk about their coach or if they believed the question was stupid, Latu took the reins.
“Stupid question,” he said.
“To ask it, I don't know, it's different for yous guys and different for us.
“For us, it comes across as a stupid question so that's why we're all laughing.
“Obviously, you're asking us a question that we think is a complete joke so if you're going to ask us questions like that, we'll take it as a joke and throw it back at you.”
“To us, he's our head coach, of course he cares, he cares about each and every one of us,” he said.
“Simple as that.”
Salakaia-Loto delivered some glowing praise of his coach for his willingness to take the heat off his players amid a swirling discussion about high tackles.
“It takes it off us, he is putting himself out there to be shot, he's protecting us as every good coach would do,” he said.
“Not going to let your players hang out to dry, we'd all do the same for each other.”
Belief was a theme of the day with Cheika also describing himself as a “believer” when speaking to media on Monday.
“I believe, more than confidence,” he said.
“I’m just a believer. Call me a sucker. I believe in my lads.
“I know there’s other people who won’t give us much of a chance but I believe that when you believe in yourself you are much closer to being able to create history.
“When you believe in what your team...and what they can bring on the field, all different players, then you’re closer than you are to ever before to make history.
“That’s what we’re going to need to do and that’s what we want to do.”
Australia takes on England in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Saturday October 19 at Oita Stadium, kicking off at 4;15pm local, 6:15pm AEDT, LIVE on Foxtel, Network Ten and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO, Rugby Xplorer and Amazon Alexa.
