Michael Cheika’s bid to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup ended with a woeful whimper on and off the field. The worst aspect of this ending is that it was entirely predictable.
The 40–16 thrashing England handed out to the Wallabies in the quarter-final was the worst performance by an Australian side at a World Cup.
The Wallabies went into the must-win match with a gameplan requiring them to run the ball at every opportunity. But they were not coached in the skills, variation of plays, athleticism and rugby nous that this approach required.
All the energy in the Cheika preparation centred around indoctrinating the players into a sense of belief that commitment and determination, a will to win, was enough to guarantee victory.
It was as if the Wallabies were sent out to climb Mount Everest with no equipment or plans other than the crude instruction to just climb the bloody thing.
The Wallabies had no counter to England’s skilfully coached side that played at their own pace, understood what tempo was needed at various periods in the match, when to attack, when to kick, what sort of kicks were necessary at a particular time in the match and when to ramp up the pressure at set-pieces.
Stephen Jones, in The Sunday Times, summed up what happened on the field with England this way:
“England played solidly, bravely, cleverly. But they also played with talent, vivacity and pace. They switched from one game to another as the occasion demanded, and field position demanded. In the end it was thumping, crushing.”
In other words, England were coached.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
By way of contrast, there was no noticeable coaching involved with the Wallabies preparation.
The Wallabies went into a sudden death quarter-final with back combinations that had never played together before.
The tempo was always the same, slightly frenetic, even when the team’s situation called for slowing things down and consolidating possession and position.
This ‘headless chooks’ approach to the way the Wallabies operated made it easy for England to defend, for it invariably resulted in one-off barging run plays.
Cheika was exposed in comparison to Eddie Jones as a motivator who did not have a clue about actual coaching or selection.
What is more disturbing is he has been protected for some years by Rugby Australia.
They didn’t stymie Cheika’s disgraceful behaviour towards referees, for instance.
At Twickenham, in 2017, when the Wallabies were thrashed 30–16 by England, Cheika was caught appearing to mouth the words “fucking cheats” when Michael Hooper was denied a try by the TMO, and subsequently warned to “moderate his conduct and language” following a World Rugby referral.
And two years later, Cheika predictably lashed out at the referees following the Wallabies’ first game of the World Cup against Fiji.
“The stuff on the ground, I’m not quite sure what’s going on but the team of three were talking about David Pocock from the first minute of the game. I’m not sure why,” he said.
“I heard his name mentioned between them on the commentary at least a half a dozen times, in their own chat, when he hadn’t even been involved in a ruck.
“I’m not sure what the focus is upon him, he’s only played one game and he’s been out all year. There was a severe focus on him, his name was being called all the time.”
By allowing Cheika to unfairly trash the referees, Rugby Australia condoned behaviour that is outlawed in its Code of Conduct. Yet he was never effectively disciplined.
And then there is Cheika’s clueless belief that he is not interested in how the opposition is going to play.
When asked last week what his thoughts were about the England team, his reply was a model of stupidity:
“Don’t really have one mate. Lots of respect but I’m not a big analyser of the opposition. I’m always telling my coaches not to watch the opposition so much. They watch too much footage of the opposition.”
Cheika made a lot of foolish statements in his career as coach of the Wallabies. This one must rank as one of the most absurd.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Rod Macqueen, the coach the 1999 Rugby World Cup-winning Wallabies, liked to quote Sun Tzu’s aphorism “know your enemy” as the cornerstone of successful coaching.
But what would Macqueen know? He only coached the Wallabies to a 79.1 per cent winning Test record. Cheika’s was 50 per cent.
And here is a question. Why wasn’t Macqueen used by Rugby Australia in the same sort mentoring role played by Wayne Smith for many years with the All Blacks?
This mentoring should have been put in place early this year given that 2018, when they won four of 13 Tests, was the Wallabies’ worst since 1958.
The point here is that if a team gets into a habit of losing, it will invariably kick in during a World Cup, unless special action is taken.
In 2016, the brilliant New Zealand journalist Tom Scott produced a cartoon showing Steve Hansen holding a baby Cheika wearing a soiled and leaking nappy and asking: “Could someone from Australian rugby change him?”
That never happened. And the result was a trashing of the Wallabies as a team and a brand that has disgusted rusted-on supporters and rugby followers around the world.
Given this history, it was no surprise that Cheika, at the press conference following the quarter-final disaster, remained in a combative mode.
A journalist asked if he was considering his role as Australian coach following the loss. This was a perfectly reasonable question, given that Cheika himself had said he would quit if he didn’t win the World Cup this year.
The reply was typically self-indulgent:
“If you find it inside you to find a little bit of compassion, just ask some more relevant question because I tell you, for me, I came here with only one thought in mind, winning the World Cup, and that thought just disappeared now.”
The fact is that the CEO of Rugby Australia, Raelene Castle, told journalists before the tournament that anything short of a final berth would be considered a failure for the Wallabies.
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Instead, they were out of the World Cup in a quarter-final, and with a record defeat.
Why wouldn’t Cheika admit that he was finished as coach of the Wallabies?
When he talked about compassion, my mind went back to his treatment of Israel Folau.
Cheika showed no compassion for him when he said, at the beginning of the controversy, that he wouldn’t select him for the Wallabies.
This was a decisive moment in the sacking of Folau.
This always seemed to me to be a strange position for a coach to take, that he dismissed his best attacking player from the squad for non-rugby reasons.
And while we are on this matter, I note that the rugby media, in their enthusiasm to put the boot into Folau, wrote articles suggesting that dropping Folau actually improved the World Cup prospects of the Wallabies.
This was politically correct nonsense posing as rugby commentary.
The fact of the matter is that in his last Test against England, Folau scored two of the three tries as the Wallabies went down 37-18 at Twickenham.
The second try was scored on full-time and was Folau’s last touch in Test rugby.
How much better would the Wallabies have fared if he had been playing against England on Saturday?
At Oita Stadium, the Wallabies:
- Had 64 per cent possession and 62 per cent territory.
- Ran 568m to England’s 272, with 152 passes and 151 runs. England made 71 runs.
- Made 78 tackles. England had 181.
- Won the penalty count 8 to 5.
On these statistics, a well-coached Wallabies side would have won by at least 40-16, the result actually that England achieved, despite the lack of ball and field position.
When the Wallabies clawed back the scoreline to 17-16 and even at 24-16, having someone like Folau, given all the possession the Wallabies had, could have been a game-changer.
(Paul Kane/Getty Images)
It was clear in this game that the Wallabies game plan was too one-dimensional to trouble a well-coached opposition defence.
The failure of Michael Cheika as Wallabies coach at the 2019 World Cup is a story of the failure of the leaders in Australian rugby.
The former’s resignation on Sunday night was inevitable.
But what about the latter group? What about Rugby Australia? They protected Cheika when it was obvious the Wallabies’ reputation and winning record were being tarnished, destroyed even.
Cheika’s failure was also theirs. And so too should Rugby AU’s leaders match his depature, for running Australian rugby into a dark, losing place.
Frank
Guest
Joeb everybody knows that you just dont complain about the refs - it makes the complainant look bad (and illustrates their state of mind as a coach). There is also a theory going around that the ref's took so much rubbish from Cheika over recent times that, consciously or subconsciously, it started to influence their rulings against the Wbs. Regardless, I'm tired of talking about Cheika, he's gone (thank goodness), lets just learn the lessons from "the cheika years", consider it the bottom, and improve from there. The sacking of Clyne and Co would be a good start. Also, Spiro, you can stop talking about Folau now.
Glider
Guest
no accountability anywhere no emotional intelligence anywhere no guts to own up and admit mistakes from anywhere no care - no code - no stewardship - no statesmanship revenue down, profit down, brand destroyed, supported base destroyed all that money for a few motherhood statements and some finger pointing. Epic fail - complete disgrace - laughing stock ...... too self interested and narcissistic to realise they are unconsciously incompetent.
Freedom Rides
Guest
sorry but Falou never said gays were not allowed to play rugby or even ride with him on the team bus so your analogy of Apartheid is incorrect because Apartheid was all about the present world not what happens after people die
Freedom Rider
Guest
Sorry but sacking Falou obviously upset as many people as it pleased so it was divisive and polarising to the Australian rugby community and therefore a failure of leadership - good leaders unite people to a common cause
Jamie
Guest
Never happened !! Dingo Deans was still Wallaby coach for over two years after the Reds won the comp. Link lasted 3 months after Clown won the comp with the tahs.
joeb
Guest
Some very good points there BrumbiesFan, though I'm not criticising Spiro either. "as Cheika obviously thought he had no choice but to impose a nonsensical, attack at all costs game plan to avoid criticism, and it has destroyed Australian Rugby." With his announced farewell we're now already on the comeback trail.
joeb
Roar Rookie
Hi Spiro, “By allowing Cheika to unfairly trash the referees, Rugby Australia condoned behaviour that is outlawed in its Code of Conduct. Yet he was never effectively disciplined.” Yes and no. They did warn him about smashing up the furniture, and ripping doors off hinges. But in fairness there are numerous occasions when refs show their bias and other times their plain incompetence, so Chek getting upset with refs shouldn’t really surprise, i.e. he was entitled to much of the time. E.g. Stuart Barnes in Fox commentary the other night referred to the disgraceful refereeing display in the 2011 Final at Eden Park, and that ref has now been relegated to 7s tournaments (I’d wondered for a while where he’d got to). Without the ref’s assistance that French side decked out in full white may well have won their first RWC on foreign soil. But it wasn’t to be, indeed denied thanks to, ah gee, I’ll hold me tongue and behave like a proper gentleman [for a change]. (And btw, Koroibete’s second brilliant try in our QF loss to the Old Enemy the other night seemed legit, yet the ref [Inspector] Jérôme Garcès (France) requested a review and then overruled Television Match Official Ben Skeen (New Zealand) who said it was a classic ‘six of one, half-a-dozen of the other’ scenario, i.e. a try, and if the All Blacks had scored it it would have been given, but yet again we [the Wallabies] copped the rough end of the pineapple, and that changed the course of history. —–Quote: 2011 Rugby World Cup He was named on the refereeing panel for the 2011 Rugby World Cup,[24] and took charge of four matches during the pool stage of the competition. He also officiated the Quarter Final match between Ireland and Wales,[25] the semi-final between Australia and New Zealand and the final between New Zealand and France,[26][27] in the process becoming the youngest referee ever to officiate a final.[2] Joubert was publicly criticised by French players Dimitri Yachvili,[28] Dimitri Szarzewski and Maxime Mermoz for his performance in the final.[29] Gerry Thornley, writing in The Irish Times, was of the opinion that France was the better team on the night, with Joubert being reluctant to award penalties against New Zealand in the last quarter of the match.[30]. Sir Clive Woodward was of the same opinion [31] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Joubert Sometimes you just have to speak up, or be trampled underfoot, :crying:
Michael
Roar Rookie
Adulterers and drinks aren’t featured so highly in suicide figures as gay people. For young gay people dealing with their sexuality, having a respected public figure saying that you’re going to burn in hell is enough to tip some of them over the edge. There’s no way rugby Australia could let their representative continue to do that publicly without being sacked. Folau’s actions were disgusting for a man in such a prominent position.
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Absolutely Michael, but didn't IF's tweet state that adulterers and drunks will go to hell also? Clearly I won't be cold in the afterlife. And the dictionary definition of bigotry is just what you read. Think about it.
Michael
Roar Rookie
Yep. He would have massively increased the percentage of homophobic bigots in the team for sure...
SandBox
Roar Guru
You know a lot more than me then
Richie
Roar Rookie
Far more then that. There was quite a group of people receiving many texts which explains the fact she “accidentally” received one(?). As I said very lucky boy.
GibbonRib
Roar Rookie
Actually, thinking about it for a minute yeah I do have proof - his own public actions. I've been involed in plenty of teams (sport & work) and everyone someone starts acting like they're special and the rules don't apply to them it's toxic. I'm all for siting down and discussing it and giving people another chance, but if you do it a second time in a team that I lead then you're gone.
SandBox
Roar Guru
Sounds like the “would you tap that?” Text, a long with the most unflattering pic, and the answer “Link would”. That Beale accidentally sent to her. Right up there with Shane Warne sending a message to his gf “wife’s out, come in the back door”, that he sent to his wife by mistake. Glad some guys are good at sport, they’d be sweeping streets otherwise I’d say there’s more to the story than just that text
Richie
Roar Rookie
It was of a derogatory nature towards Patston. IMO it wasn’t specifically about McKenzie in the beginning. It certainly got out of control on text.
GibbonRib
Roar Rookie
Proof of which bit? Edit: rereading, I think you mean proof that he was damaging the team environment. In which case, not really, only my observations. I can’t prove that Kieran Read is a good captain and a positive influence either, but I’ve got an opinion. And more importantly, so does his coach, who makes the decisions.
jacko
Guest
Sorry Adam i forgot....Nick was right in dec 2017 and right again a couple of weeks ago even tho he said the exact opposite....I really do need to learn this better...Maybe write it out 500 times....Nick Bishop is never wrong.....When Nick bishop is wrong re read the first sentence LOL
Jacko
Guest
Was he Gibbon? Any proof on that?
BrumbiesFan
Guest
Are you going to put your own hand up for some of this blame too Spiro? Wasn't it you who coined the term "Jake-Ball"? Your constant harping criticism of the Brumbies in particular has been shameful, highly exaggerated, and just plain wrong! Yes, the Brumbies aren't afraid to kick the rugby ball, yet they aren't afraid to run it either. Most importantly, they run it when they should run it, and kick it when they should kick it. It's called "rugby", and I thought an "Expert" like you might know that. Apparently not. The crucifixion of the Brumbies by many Sydney-based commentators smacks of the worst kind of parochialism, and served only to damage rugby in this country... sadly, nobody eats their own quite like Australian Rugby :-( Besides, it is - and always was - utter nonsense. The Brumbies have an all-round game plan involving running, passing, kicking and set piece. And they actually vary those plans to suit their opponents and the conditions. Against SA teams, they have the ability to take them on up front and beat them at their own game - their record against SA teams is very good. Yet they counterattack well in Aussie Derbies, and even bagged some NZ wins with fine ball-in-hand rugby. Yes, when under pressure in games they will fall back on the set piece and play the territory game, but what is wrong with that? Don't most rugby fans now wish the Wallabies had a plan, any plan, to fall back on when things weren't working? It's called coaching. And Aussie "running rugby" is a myth anyway. Yes, Australia scored some great running tries, but even in the glory days they kicked for territory and always cleared their lines. They NEVER chip-kicked on their own goal line :-( Would you call that "Jake Ball"? The Brumbies are the most complete Aussie Super Rugby team and have by far the best record - not just historically, but in recent years too. Yet Sydney and Brisbane-based "Experts" with an axe to grind have constantly attacked the Brumbies style and talked them down for reasons of Rugby Politics. A strong scrum is nothing to be ashamed of, you know. And to my mind it has contributed directly to the current dilemma, as Cheika obviously thought he had no choice but to impose a nonsensical, attack at all costs game plan to avoid criticism, and it has destroyed Australian Rugby. Can Australian Rugby try and check parochialism at the door? Celebrate success of any kind, in any state, and support and encourage it to generate further success. Select players based on form, not the state quota system, old school tie and jobs for the boys nonsense that counts as "selection" today. Pick the best players in their best position, and actually coach them! Set up structures and plays that suit the squad selected. It may be old-fashioned, but it has worked before. I can only hope it will work again!
Jacko
Guest
yeah i was replying to OJ...The posts sometimes end up down way too far to be relevant to the original comment unfortunately...