England vs Australia: Michael Cheika left in tears when he found out Phil Hughes had died and hopes win can pay tribute to batsman

Australia head coach wants Wallabies to record a win at Twickenham to show they are thinking of Hughes' family

Australia rugby coach Michael Cheika has admitted he cried when he heard the news cricketer Phillip Hughes had died after being struck by a ball.

Australia batsman Hughes died on Thursday, two days after being struck on the head by a bouncer in action for South Australia against New South Wales.

Wallabies boss Cheika said he was moved to tears when he was told of Hughes' death, despite never meeting the 26-Test Australia star, who would have turned 26 on Sunday.

Australia Rugby Union (ARU) bosses and the RFU have agreed to hold a minute's applause ahead of Saturday's Test clash with England at Twickenham.

"I'd never met Phil but when I heard about it I cried because there's something that touches you about it, how unfortunate it is," said Cheika.

"We just want to show we're praying for the family, and that's all we can do.

"Any type of respect we can show, we will. We've made some requests but we're just waiting to hear back.

"I just want something to happen so that his family back home know that we care and support, and I'm sure everyone in Australia is supporting them.

"Being in the pro sports game as well you can really identify with that, and we just want to show we care and support in any small way we can.

"I think some of the lads will have crossed paths, and I don't know why but there's that connection for some reason."

Australian cricketer Phil Hughes died on Thursday aged 25 (Getty Images)

The Wallabies Tweeted their support for the #putyourbatsout social media campaign as the cricket world continued to mourn Hughes' death and will wear black armbands in Saturday's Test meeting with England.

Cheika said his Australia side will pay their respects and show solidarity with the Hughes family this weekend, but pledged they will not use the popular batsman's tragic fate as any kind of motivation when facing England.

"I don't think that's even fitting, it's not something we want to try to use," said Cheika.

"It's simple: we just want to show respect to the family and make people remember the man for another moment.

"It's something that's so unlucky, unfortunate. It's out of the blue, you wouldn't expect it.

"It brings home how you've got to enjoy things as much as possible because no one expects that to happen on a cricket field.

"For us it's about empathising with the family, showing our support, because that can help in times of mourning, and remembering that person for those moments.

"I've seen many of the messages from English cricketers and it's testament to the guy, player and person that he's so widely respected.

"When that has an effect on people who only know him from afar that means something: it's very important to all of us."