Michael Cheika says he always knew All Blacks inferences of Wallabies bugging would be proved false

AUSTRALIAN coach Michael Cheika said it was unpleasant being grilled by police over the All Blacks bugging scandal but he always knew Kiwi inferences of Wallabies espionage would be proved false.

AUSTRALIAN coach Michael Cheika said it was unpleasant being grilled by police over the All Blacks bugging scandal but he always knew Kiwi inferences of Wallabies espionage would be proved false.

Cheika responded to the news of charges being laid against All Blacks security consultant Adrian Gard, who will face court next month accused of fabricating the discovery of a listening device in the Kiwis’ team hotel last August.

The bug was found while the All Blacks were in Sydney preparing to play the Wallabies in a Bledisloe Cup match and Cheika was angered by the clear inferences his team was involved in planting it.

The coach said while he’d almost forgotten the matter since and was surprised to learn of Gard’s charges this week, Cheika wasn’t shocked that police had finally cleared Australian rugby.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen but I knew one thing was definite: the inferences we were involved, that was ridiculous and I knew that wasn’t the case,” Cheika said.

“I didn’t know what would happen otherwise but knew that outcome wouldn’t be the final outcome. It ended up how it did.”

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika watches players warm up prior to the Rugby Championship match between the Australian Wallabies and Argentina at nib Stadium on September 17, 2016 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Asked if he felt vindicated given the cloud that had lingered over the head of Australian rugby during a lengthy police investigation, Cheika said: “Maybe I don’t feel that cloud because I always knew what the truth is.”

NSW Police attended the offices of the ARU in their investigations to interview Cheika and other staff members.

“It is not nice to have to answer questions from police and stuff like that, for something you have absolutely nothing to do with,” Cheika said.

After All Blacks coach Steve Hansen issued a statement saying Gard’s charges were “bizarre” and “hard to believe”, there have been calls for the New Zealand Rugby Union to instead apologise to their Australian counterparts.

But Cheika said he didn’t think that was necessary.

“They made their call … they made their play and police have shown that to be a different outcome to maybe what that inference was,” he said.

“I don’t expect anything like an apology or anything else.”

“It is what it is, and to make a charge, they have obviously done their homework on it. I certainly didn’t think that would happen. I will be interested to see what happens from here but it is pretty much water under the bridge as far as I am concerned.

“The reactions were real at the time but it is nothing that is going to stick in my mind for too long.”

While New Zealand are on the defensive and say they never levelled any accusations, leading officials at the Australian Rugby Union have been fuming since August at being implicated in the bugging scandal.

Relations with their New Zealand counterparts are now frosty but Cheika rejected suggestions they were at an all-time low. He said he still enjoyed good relationships with New Zealand coaching rivals.

‘It was not ideal there was an inference by them around us, that’s what the issue was,” Cheika said.

“That is now very clear that is not the case. It is a shame that was the situation around the bug and that’s the way it went down. At the end of the day I don’t see that there is an all-time low or anything.

“We are opponents and the only people who have to improve in that respect is us, on the field. It doesn’t matter about off the field.”