Michael Cheika is the only coach to have won the major rugby championship in each hemisphere but as he prepares the Wallabies for South Africa this Saturday in the opening game of the Rugby Championship, he has a point to prove.
His appointment in October 2014 following the shock resignation of Ewen McKenzie and the subsequent November tour that saw Australia lose three out of the four matches they played means that Cheika was up against it even before his seat was warm. But despite Saturday’s match signalling the start of a new year for the Wallabies, Cheika will hope to turn around the form guide of their last seven matches with the green and gold emerging victorious just once.
However, it’s a clean slate for Cheika and he will have no-one and little to blame should the coin not fall his way and the results go against them. On top of the ARU amending their player contract policy meaning that the Sydney-born coach has full choice of qualified Australian players across the globe, Cheika has had ample time over the 2014/2015 off-season as well as the 2015 Super Rugby season to become more familiar with the rank and file of Australian rugby.
The return of players such as Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell to the Wallaby fray as well as the scrum half/fly half selection dilemma leaves Cheika in a highly contested but nonetheless talented environment. The availability of players like Reds teams mates Quade Cooper and Will Genia and Waratahs pairing Bernard Foley and Nick Phipps means that Cheika is rather spoilt for choice.
For a man who is trying to turn around the fortunes of a clearly promising squad, Cheika’s goal is clear.
“What we’re trying to do is just get our plan right and make the guys believe in that.”
His experience in guiding Leinster to Heineken Cup glory and the Waratahs to the Super Rugby title shows that Cheika’s coaching philosophy and his game plan work. However it will be results that determines his success in the job and the Rugby Championship will decide whether he can turn the Wallabies into a team that not only believe they can win a team that actually can win.