Under-fire Cheika ‘has to go’, says Wallabies great Burke

SYDNEY: Wallabies legend Matt Burke has urged Rugby Australia to axe Michael Cheika along with his coaching staff after a review was announced into their positions less than a year before the World Cup.

The two- time world champions have won just four Tests this year and slipped to sixth in the world rankings, heaping pressure on Cheika as a sense of turmoil engulfs the national side.

Burke said the Wallabies needed change ‘ from the top down’, calling for Cheika and his assistants, Stephen Larkham and Nathan Grey, to go.

“Michael Cheika after that (season) has to go” Burke, who played 81 Tests for Australia and was a World Cup winner in 1999, told Big Sports Breakfast radio.

“There has to be a change.

I don’t think just getting rid of the assistant coaches will be enough,” he added.

Despite club success at Leinster and the NSW Waratahs, Cheika has struggled to stamp his authority on a Wallabies side that is replete with world- class players, but has consistently underperformed of late.

“I think they have to change it from the top down.

Getting rid of the assistant coaches won’t be enough because it’s still the same voice,” said Burke.

“At the moment it’s untenable when you’re looking at the situation from the coaches and then the high performance managers and the rest of it.”

Rugby Australia has promised a decision on Cheika and his coaching staff “ahead of Christmas”. — AFP