Rugby World Cup: Michael Cheika prepared for barrage of attention Wallabies pack will endure

MICHAEL Cheika knows the barrage of attention the Wallabies pack — particularly the front row — will receive during the RWC. So the coach is ready to let actions do the talking.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - AUGUST 15: Coach Michael Cheika of the Wallabies talks to his players during The Rugby Championship, Bledisloe Cup match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies at Eden Park on August 15, 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Don’t mention the war.

That’s the way Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is approaching the barrage of attention he knows that will be coming the way of his pack — particularly the front row — as they arrive in England for the kick-off of the World Cup in two weeks’ time.

Speaking before this Sunday’s (AEST) Test against the USA in Chicago, Cheika was quietly confident the work the team has put into its perceived weaknesses will be enough to get them through the tournament.

A year ago, after the final Test of a disappointing Spring tour — in which the England pack laid the foundation for a humbling loss at Twickenham — Cheika said he had a few tricks up his sleeve to turn the situation around.

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Wallabies practice their rolling maul.

Typically, he wasn’t revealing what those tricks were at the time, and he still isn’t. In fact, the less said about the much maligned Australian scrum, the better.

“I don’t want to talk about it too much because that’s what everyone else is doing, talking about it,” he said. “We’ve been training hard in that area, obviously with the goal of improving it. I think we’ve improved. Everyone else is going to be talking about it so I think I’ll just let it unfold and see what happens.”

He does concede though that it is important the Aussies show early in the tournament that they are no pushovers. Too often on that Spring tour the 50:50 calls on collapsed scrums and maul penalties went the other way because for years the Australians have carried a reputation as a weak pack that buckles under pressure.

Some strong performances up-front in the Rugby Championship have helped to redress that issue, but it will be against the Northern Hemisphere sides that the real test will come.

“The perception is perhaps that we’re not that good in those areas,” Cheika said. “That comes from being beaten in those areas. I don’t think it’s the referees. I think it’s the general perception per se.

“The only way we can change that perception is by consistently performing. I feel we’ve improved, both in driving mauls and in scrums, but we’re still working extremely hard on because it’s the most humbling area of the game. You can win one and get smashed in the next one.

“It’s always a battle, always going to be a contest. You’ve got to be on the money every single time.”

Even so, in the end it will be up to the referees as to which way they go on the tight calls.

“It’s all about interpretation. That sort of stuff is out of my hands. I think we’ve made improvement and I think we can make more improvements before the tournament starts.”

Cheika says he can’t comment on the make-up of the other squads in the tournament, for the simple fact that he doesn’t know who is playing.

“To be honest I haven’t looked,” he said. “There’s no benefit for me going through the rosters. I know generally there or thereabouts but I genuinely just need to get our team right.

“I’m just going opponent by opponent. All the experienced coaches I’ve spoken to, Alan Jones, Eddie Jones, John Connelly, Bob Dwyer, Rod Macqueen, the captains, John Eales; they’ve all said ‘a game at a time’.

“If I do that with lip service and don’t believe it, but just say it because it’s a nice cliché then I’m cheating my team. I honestly believe that’s the way to run. No other way is going to give us an advantage.

“In the end the proof of the pudding is going to be in the eating, isn’t it.”

Originally published as Rugby World Cup: Michael Cheika prepared for barrage of attention Wallabies pack will endure