Cheika’s rants cannot hide awfulness of

Stop whining, Michael Cheika, and get on with a proper game plan. At the moment, you are coming across like a fool.

Wallaby coach Cheika can moan all he likes. He might even have a very minor point or two. But he’s barking up the wrong tree and barking mad if he thinks he’s on a productive track.

Yes, maybe at a pinch it’s difficult to work out why Owen Franks — who had a magnificent test in Wellington — won’t at least face a hearing for raking his hand across the face of Kane Douglas.

But there was also Cheika’s claim chris.rattue@ nzherald.co. nz that All Blacks coach Steve Hansen had a rogue meeting with referee Romain Poite — the All Blacks don’t bother meeting the referees any more, according to Hansen.

And then Cheika dug deep into his bag of sad tricks, claiming that his poor captain Stephen Moore gets treated in an offhand way by referees. Oh dear. Pass the tissues.

Cheika launched a load of red herrings into the gulf between the two sides, and looked out of his depth in the process. It made two horrible defeats even more cringe-inducing.

Watching an ineffective forward like Scott Fardy — who isn’t good enough to lace the boots of Jerome Kaino on this showing — yapping away is embarrassing. Less talk, more action, Australia.

Cheika’s gripes have nothing to do with why his team is getting smashed. His players aren’t good enough and his coaching sucks if the lineouts are anything to go by. Some selections look like desperate rolls of the dice. His words are hot air, a smoke screen.

The Wallabies are getting belted because, individually, they aren’t good enough. It’s that simple. Yes, Australia made the World Cup final. But they got smashed in that, too.

The only player who might make a combined All Blacks-Wallabies starting line-up is Israel Folau, a league product. Even the warhorse Moore would dip out — his form is so horrible, Cheika is surely faced with deciding whether to drop his