Cheika wants to fashion Wallabies in his image
MICHAEL Cheika is on a mission to get the Wallabies to play tough, bone-crunching rugby if they want to escape the World Cup pool of death in the UK later this year or even lift the Webb Ellis trophy.
The Waratahs and Australia coach is not averse to driving demons out of teams suffering from crises of rugby faith, and right now the Wallabies need an exorcism.
His demeanour suggests that he’s left holes the shape of his right fist in coaches’ booths of stadiums all across the world. And that he’s not a man you want to cut in front of during peak hour traffic.
“I played club rugby with Cheika and he was a tough guy,” Wallaby great David Campese said. “He never played representative rugby but was always keen to learn.
“You can see that he brings enthusiasm to the team when he coaches. Sometimes he goes overboard and gets in a bit of trouble. But he always wants to get the players to go out there and express themselves.”
The 48-year-old is the son of Lebanese migrants. His name is as likely to appear on a Sanzar disciplinary rap sheet as it is on the catwalks Down Under. No jokes, he’s the owner of a fashion distribution line called Live Fashion.
Somehow he maintains his reputation as a drill sergeant even though he’s selling jeans worn by Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) on the sly.
For years New South Wales had threatened to win Super Rugby. Last year, under Cheika’s no-nonsense guidance, they came good on that promise and now the Wallabies are feeling the tough love.
“I changed the atmosphere in the Waratahs team,” Cheika said. “Why are we together? What are we playing for?
“I was trying to get the team aligned into one clear goal and we have that now. That clear goal is not winning; it’s a combination of different things for us. We are hoping that winning will be a consequence of doing those things well.
“As a coach you want your team to look like how you think. We are tough and we work hard. I’ve always emphasised good attacking rugby and not to kick the ball very much. We’ve got very good skills and, most importantly, we never give up. We are resilient.
“I think we can take a lot of what we did with this team into the Wallabies.”
With the likes of 148kg, 2.04m-tall lock Will Skelton and muscular Rebels eighthman Scott Higginbotham at his disposal, Cheika has made it clear that they are not going to the UK to find a new line of lingerie.
Especially if they are to escape a group that includes former World Cup champions England, Wales and Fiji, who will be bringing destroyer Nemani Nadolo to the showdown.
“We need to be hard, we need to be physical,” Cheika said.
“We are not going to win the tournament if we are not any of those two things. We know that we are not the type of team that is going to go stampeding over the top of others.
“But at the same time we have to be focused on the contact facet of the sport. Physicality is important. We are working hard on getting aspects of our game to be physically dominant.”
He had never coached at international level before accepting the Wallabies job last year, but he brings the experience of winning the European Cup with Leinster in 2009.
He has surrounded himself with coaches who went to Britain in 1999 and brought back the trophy to Australia, Stephen Larkham and Nathan Grey.
“A lot of the players in the group now were young kids watching that 1999 tournament on television. The year was a very inspirational time in Australian rugby, for this generation in particular.
“We want to use some of the knowledge Larkham and Grey have to help us build a winning mentality as well as the rugby that is required to play in a tournament situation.”
We have to be focused on the contact facet. Physicality is important