Michael Cheika - not the coach we want, but the coach we need

Having reached the final of the Rugby World cup last year, with new coach Michael Cheika taking Coach of the Year honors, it seemed the sun was finally shining on Australian rugby.

We had, finally, turned the corner and left the Wobblies behind us. So it was to be that 2016 would be the Year of the Wallaby. Except that, frankly, it wasn’t.

Instead 2016 started with a catastrophic 0-3 home-series loss. A loss to England no less, whom we had comfortably dispatched just nine months earlier. Following this, almost immediately, were back-to-back thrashings at the hands of the All Blacks – a tally of 71 points to 17 across two matches.

An additional loss to New Zealand in the aforementioned World Cup final brought the tally to six Test losses on the trot. And with that, knives and pencils were sharpened as our nation’s sports journalists went about the routine execution of yet another Australian coach.

Journalists, at their core, need to be great storytellers. And whether deliberate in purpose or not they were certainly careful crafting the narrative of Cheika’s demise. His temper was getting the better of him, selections were politically influenced and most certain of all he did not have the nous to coach at the international level.

Off-field antics were, of course, pulled into the mix. Press conference explosions one after the other, about opposition coaches, the media, referees, and the treatment of his captain – you name it. Topping it all of was the scandal of a routine security sweep revealing a bug in the All Blacks team room when they visited Sydney, permitting – though not warranting – the fantastical inference that he may have crossed the line and was not playing fair.

You, literally, couldn’t make this stuff up!

And, with that, the writing was on the wall – Michael Cheika is not the coach Australia wants.

However, with the Southern Hemisphere season in the books it’s time to take a, figuratively, sober look at Cheiks’ performance as coach for the year so far.

Understanding how far we’ve come requires an understanding of where we started. According to World Rugby, Australia as ranked No.2 in the world at the end of last year. Only the nigh-on unbeatable All Blacks were better.

Rankings in rugby usually benefit from perspective. Had it not been for a narrow and arguably lucky escape to edge out Scotland in the quarter-final of the World Cup we could easily have exited at that stage of the tournament.

Had those events instead transpired, 2015 would have joined 1995 and 2007 as Australia’s worst ever performances in pursuit of the game’s most coveted prize.

Former ARU head John O’Neill made the point nicely in an email published by Spiro Zavos in his exclusive last week: “a brave performance at the Rugby World Cup 2015 may well have wall-papered over the cracks which are getting wider”.

In truth we probably started the year closer to our pre-tournament ranking of sixth than second.

Michael Cheika, by demanding Giteau’s Law be introduced, orchestrated the “brave performance” O’Neill speaks of by shipping in talent that allowed the team exceed itself temporarily. And in the process he tricked us all. He tricked us into thinking we were better than we actually are.

It was a stroke of genius and a Faustian bargain with some predicting the law, which first permitted the selection of overseas-based players, would cause rot in the team’s culture – that remains to be seen.

At any rate, the team who started the three-test series against England were probably not the second best rugby team in the world. And, crucially, the team they matched up against was not the England we all know and love, they were not the England that… you know… look pretty good in general but tend to lose to Australia.

Oh no, England had changed. This England, was Eddie Jones’ England.

Fuelled by an embarrassing exit in the pool stages of a home World Cup and led by mongrel hooker Dylan Hartley whom previous coach Stuart Lancaster deemed not to have the disciple to even attend the tournament, this was a very different beast.

Having completed an astounding turnaround to earn an undefeated victory in the Six Nations, Eddie Jones and his men boarded a plan to take on the Wallabies who had barely assembled after the Super Rugby season. They earned, deservingly, three marvelous victories.

Up next was New Zealand, who defied all logic by actually getting better since the 2015 World Cup and have looked completely unbeatable ever since. If the All Blacks of one year ago played the All Blacks of today I believe that the latter would win, on the proviso Richie McCaw led both.

Strictly speaking, Australia lost six straight Test matches. But they did so against the two best teams in the world and proceeded to fight their way back up the rankings to third in the world and take second place in the rugby championship. Second place is no small feat in the toughest annual rugby tournament in the world.

We were dealt a blow by a wounded and desperate South Africa, likely the last they will have the teeth to deliver for some time. If you believe the All Blacks of today are as close to a perfect rugby team as we’ve ever seen, that Test against South Africa stands out as our only truly sub-par performance this season.

On balance, we have trended upwards.

Far more impressive is 2016 in context of being the first in a four-year World Cup cycle. Michael Cheika, against headwinds from unhelpful administrators, unearthed a glut of new and future stars from the notoriously ‘shallow’ local talent pool.

Major premierships in both hemispheres, with Leinster and the Waratahs, taught us Cheika’s great strength as a coach as a man-manager. His stunt with Giteau’s Law proves this hypothesis. He now has time, for the first time, to prepare Australia for the game’s greatest prize and we’re starting to reap the rewards.

Adam Coleman is our first real second rower since John Eales. Honorable mentions to Nathan Sharpe and Dan Vickerman but in truth neither were in the league of tall-timber we saw growing overseas. Paul O’Connell, Eben Etzebeth, Sam Whitelock, Martin Johnston, Brodie Retallick and of course the great Victor Matfield come to mind. Coleman has the ability to play at that level.

Rory Arnold too is a fantastic find and while he hasn’t convinced us of his greatness just yet he stands head and shoulders above all of many other options considered over the past few years.

Having these two in the XV leaves Rob Simmons, Kane Douglas, Sam Carter and Will Skelton fighting over one remaining match-day spot. And, just like that, we have second-row depth for the first time in over a decade.

Poor as our second-row stocks have historically been, our props have not been any better.

Australia were very lucky Scott Sio and Sekope Kepu were able to stay fit in 2015, they stand as anomalies in a very long line of Australian front-rowers. Had we been forced to go to the bench, and a man deeper to ride the pine, our World Cup would most certainly have ended with Scotland.

Not only has Cheika brought them both into form after disappointing seasons for their clubs, he kept Kepu in Australia. Kepu is just one of a number of stars he’s pulled back from riches and the promise of an endless European summer. All of this while closing the gap between our starters and reserves sufficiently to make me wonder who will pack down when Japan 2019 rolls around.

Allan Ala’alatoa is a revelation. At the tender age of 22, theoretically too young to be a prop of international standard, I love absolutely everything I see from this kid. Watching him lift his head from a ruck with Eben Etzebeth’s jersey wrapped around his fist, head tapped, engrossed in competition and fearless as only rookies are… As a former prop, it makes me smile. He is what he should be.

Along with fellow rookie Tom Robertson, also 22, Ala’alatoa has taken on three of the best four scrummaging sides in the world and despite inexperience given very little away. And, just like that, we have depth in our props for the first time in over a decade.

All of this sums to a transformation in the Wallabies set-piece. Three years ago our scrum was a joke, earlier this year the lineout was a shambles and this injection of talent has fixed both. All while filling our pack up with young, energetic players who are able to run the ball with purpose.

Speaking of which, welcome to the scene Lopeti Timani. Timani’s showing potential to be a No.8 who actually does what a No.8 is meant to do. Perhaps we can finally just stop it with experimental and ineffective back rows!

No.8’s are meant to do two things, dominate contact and win the battle of the advantage line and Timani does both without getting out of first gear. His work rate needs to lift, no doubt, but that is an easier problem to solve than finding someone who possesses Timani’s uncoachable talents.

Heading further into the backfield it’s impossible to ignore the turnaround in fortunes of former teammates Will Genia and Quade Cooper. Each was among the best rugby players in the world for a short time in 2011 and neither has showed even a sliver of that form since. Until now.

Pundits calling for their return were wrong. Between 2011 and 2015 neither did anything to warrant selection. Whatever happened in Europe, it happened right and Cheika has managed to corral champagne rugby from two players that many of us, me included, had written off as being done.

Just one position further out, Reece Hodge is emerging as one of the best players we’ve seen in a while and will undoubtedly keep getting better. A good friend who knows more about back play than I do tells me he’s a superstar in the making, our next Stirling Mortlock. And he made mistakes at Eden Park each misstep was countered by moment of equal or greater brilliance. I suspect the brilliance, not the missteps, will become the norm over time.

And then there’s Samu Kerevi and Dane Haylett-Petty, both of whom have come to the forefront under Cheika. And Kyle Godwin’s going to get a start soon, and the Tongar Thor is on tour as a development player.

And so we have depth at flyhalf, depth in the mid-field and a few wingers starting to emerge for the first time in over a decade.

In fact if you were to ask me to give an assessment it would go something like this: Michael Cheika has not only improved Australia to being deserving of third in the world rankings, but in doing so he has found form in old players and unearthed new talent at a rate never seen before.

Yeah, we’ve lost more Tests than we have won, but in the context of blooding a dozen young players with more of half our matches against the best two teams in the world what do we expect? Does it really matter if we’ve found near a team-worth of world-class players young enough hit their prime around the time we board a plane to contest the World Cup in Japan?

And let’s not forget Cheika achieved this against the backdrop of declarations of war between separatist factions of Australia’s notoriously political rugby administration. Stephen Larkham went through something similar with the Brumbies this year and the team fell to pieces.

Despite this, despite the game being on the brink of financial ruin, despite losing players to Europe, despite scandals and increasingly loud calls for the coach’s head we have gotten much, much better.

Without question Cheika does some stupid stuff. His comments to Romain Poite midseason ran across the grain with me as much as anyone. For those who need a reminder:

“He has the whistle, I understand… he might not like the captain personally, that might be his prerogative. But he has to afford him that [opportunity to speak to him] if he’s affording it to his opponents.”

“I’m on the record with referees boss about the treatment of our captain and our players.”

“I don’t know if it’s subconscious or not but it’s there and it’s got to be dealt with, because that can’t be going on if the opponent can have every player discussing with the referee.”

Matters of this nature should be, and within our game generally have been, dealt with behind closed doors rather than in the media circus, such is the ethos of rugby.

But tell me, honestly tell me there hadn’t been a breakdown in communication between the Australian captain and the referees! Earlier in the season, talk in the office was that Moore was getting comprehensively out-captained. While Kieran Read was treated with reverence, as if beyond reproach, Moore was treated with disdain – like a disobedient child.

Whether Moore’s treatment was deserved or not, it is also fundamental to the ethos of rugby and operationally necessary that the captain be able communicate with the referee.

And tell me, honestly tell me there wasn’t a remarkable difference in the way Nigel Owens communicated with Moore the following game. Tell me it wasn’t refreshing, tell me it wasn’t something we hadn’t seen for a while.

My point is that while Michael Cheika is unquestionably mad, there is absolutely a method to his madness.

We’re taught to think visionary leaders are wonderful, intelligent, pragmatic mentors who lead by virtue rather than vitriol, but having known more than a few I can tell you the truth is often very different. All too often they are stubborn, dogmatic and unreasonable people and so they bloody well should be – democracy is no way to manage a football team.

And while some visionary leaders are wonderful, intelligent and pragmatic they probably wouldn’t be suited to breeding success in the unfathomable mess that is professional rugby in Australia.

I must applaud the ARU and CEO Bill Pulver for keeping it afloat and launching the National Rugby Championship, much of the talent used by Cheika first had the chance to shine there. But they should be lambasted for the appalling standard of our Super Rugby teams and increasingly clear deficiencies in alignment both coaching strategies and strength and conditioning programs that simply must be addressed if we’re to catch up to New Zealand.

And so Michael Cheika may not be the coach Australian rugby wants, but we got ourselves here and like it or not he is the coach we need. No other candidate could deliver the results he has, with the support he has not had.

Love him or hate him, no other coach alive is better equipped to run our national team.

Perhaps one day we’ll have the luxury of a mild-mannered and charming coach who will embody the very essence of rugby, but until then Cheika is the right man for the job.

And I for one am quite looking forward to watching a Grand Slam tour which culminates with a shot at redemption so poetic it almost seems scripted, a match against England at home at Twickenham.

So bring it on I say, long live Michael Cheika and let’s (forgive me) make Australian rugby great again!