This year’s pain will be Aussie’s gain in World Cup year — Cheika
TWICKENHAM, United Kingdom: The painful experiences Australia have endured this year will be transformed into victories next year promised a defiant Wallabies coach Michael Cheika following the 37-18 defeat by England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The 51-year-old Australian – whose side have finished the year with just four wins in their 13 Tests the worst they have fared since 1995 – said he would not look back on this year with a sense of relief it is over declaring “I love footie mate”.
Cheika – who was world coach of the year in 2015 having pulled a demoralised squad up by its bootstraps in lss than a year and guided them to the World Cup final – said painful experiences in rugby is part and parcel of the sport just as it is in life.
“You can’t just have the good bits,” he said.
“Everyone has this seeming obligation that life has to be great and positive.
“Well there is no law that says you can’t feel pain and sad.
“We will use that when we come back together next year.
“There’s a lot of great people in our team and great stuff going on behind the scenes and we will turn the pain into wins next year.”
His England counterpart and former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones suggested that things would be a lot better with the Wallabies if they introduced a centralised contract system that has served Six Nations champions Ireland so well.
Cheika, the only coach to have won both the northern and southern hemisphere premier club competitions in 2009 with Leinster in the European Cup and the 2014 Super Rugby title with the Waratahs, said he could not influence that but he had his own strategy in developing better relations with the four Australian Super Rugby franchises.
“I am not in a position to control machinations behind the scenes but I am doing my best to establish good relations with the coaches and directors,” he said.
“We have agreed basic principles for next year with a national camp for players so next year we will be as fit as possible.
“We have, though, got to give and take in those situations.
“They are doing their best to help.”
Cheika may have bemoaned the continual giving away of the ball in the second-half through loose kicking – after the Australians had fought back valiantly to fight back from 13-3 down to level the match at 13-13 at half-time – but he did not fault them for their effort and heart, two characteristics he lists as being of prime importance to him.
His captain Michael Hooper embodied that spirit – manfully trying to make up for the significant loss through injury for the match of another star of the 2015 World Cup backrow partner David Pocock – said lessons have been learned and will be useful come the next time the squad gets together.
“It’s been a tough one this year,” said Hooper.
“It would have been an energy boost going into next year winning here, the last Test of the campaign.
“We have learned a lot from this year being a part of the leadership team.
“We have to be that way taking it into next season in taking the tough lessons and learning from those.” — AFP