Cheika his own ‘hardest critic’
Michael Cheika has defended his position at the helm of the Wallabies, saying he is his own harshest critic and warning there is no magic bullet to turn the team’s fortunes around.
Cheika has come under heavy fire since the Wallabies coughed up a 38-13 loss at home to the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday night, with a veteran journalist calling for the former Waratahs coach and his four assistants to be sacked.
In New Zealand, with their Bledisloe Cup campaign hanging by a thread and a follow-up clash looming at Eden Park, Cheika took the criticism head-on.
‘‘There’s no solution that I can say to you that says ‘Do one, two, three and we’ll win
[the Bledisloe or the World Cup]’. It’s a continual work-on,’’ Cheika said.
‘‘What were you saying before the last World Cup? You would have had your doubts then as well, you just don’t know.
‘‘I’ve always had a plan about what I want to do. Sometimes you get bumps that take you a different course, you lose players, different things happen along the way and you’ve got to be able to adjust to that. But when you know exactly where you’re headed, it makes it a little easier to deal with those things because you can stay on track.’’
Cheika’s win ratio is 51 per cent after almost four years in charge, made up of 25 wins and two draws from 49 tests since he took over in October 2014. It is the second-lowest success rate of the professional era, only marginally higher than Ewen Mckenzie’s (50 per cent).
The Wallabies are ranked fifth in the world behind the No 1 All Blacks, with Ireland in second, Wales in third and England in fourth. Under Cheika, the Wallabies made the 2015 World Cup final and have beaten the All Blacks twice with eight defeats. They lost the 2016 June series against England three-nil and won only one of three tests against Ireland this year.
Cheika said he understood the reaction from fans, if not the vitriol in some of the criticism.
Sports writer Greg Growden wrote on Espnscrum.com that ‘‘Cheika’s Wallabies are going absolutely nowhere, sending Australian rugby into a frightening nosedive. Cheika must pay the price for a team whose appalling skill level makes a mockery of the professional footballer tag, and arrogant, holier-than-thou attitude does not warrant any respect from those sick and tired of a pedestrian outfit who constantly makes fools of themselves in the big games.’’
‘‘I think it’s fair for people to have a negative response. We got beat, they wanted us to win. There’s nothing wrong with that,’’ Cheika said.
‘‘Whatever he [Greg Growden] could have said to me, I’ve said it to myself already, and recovered from it and feel stronger for it to go back and turn the negative into a positive. Call me crazy.’’