Staff future could hinge on Wallabies coach Michael Cheika convincing Rugby Australia
IF Rugby Australia were going to sack Michael Cheika it would have had to have been this week, but that doesn’t mean the pressure will be released on the under-fire Wallabies coach.
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MICHAEL Cheika’s future as Wallabies coach is safe, but his presentation to the Rugby Australia board next Friday will be crucial to the future of his assistants and team management.
If RA were going to sack Cheika it would have had to have been this week, because once the team heads off on their tour to Japan and Europe next weekend they do not return until the end of November.
That is too late to anoint a new coach, and it would be farcical to parachute someone in mid-tour.
Australia’s great escape in Argentina last week, when they came from 31-7 down to win in Salta, eased tremendous pressure on Cheika.
But RA is deeply concerned that the Wallabies have lost eight of their past 11 games and fan disenchantment is at its highest.
Cheika will present his plan on how he will achieve success at next year’s World Cup amid the team’s slide to an all-time low of seventh in the world rankings.
There will be hard questions asked as to how Cheika will fashion the most incredible turnaround in form and bring the fans back.
Many of the issues plaguing the team have been consistent for the past three years; poor starts or finishes, failure to capitalise on scoring opportunities, set-piece wobbles, defence and getting beaten at the ruck contest.
The Wallabies’ defence coach Nathan Grey, attack coach Stephen Larkham and forwards coach Simon Raiwalui are all under review.
RA chief executive Raelene Castle has also floated the idea of bringing in an independent selector to challenge Cheika on key calls.
Cheika, who regularly defers to former national coaches and players in his selection decisions, is likely to resist another new voice in his set-up.
But the RA board, under growing pressure for failure to present any meaningful plan or vision for the game as it hits crisis point, won’t accept a steady as she goes proposal from Cheika.
The team’s woeful record over the past two years has deeply hit the game’s finances and changes are being demanded at every level.
The board is accused of sitting on their hands while the national team has faded to mediocrity.
They’ll back Cheika to fulfil his plan, but the personnel he wants to do it with could well change.
Meanwhile, Castle confirmed that the rebuilt Allianz Stadium will likely host the 2022 Bledisloe Cup against the All Blacks.
The Moore Park venue will be demolished soon and undergo a refurbishment, while ANZ Stadium will undergo a similar redevelopment in 2022, meaning the Bledisloe match would be moved east that year.