Michael to coach against the Wallabies as Pumas adviser

The Wallabies’ two Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina have just taken on a razor sharpness.

Argentina coach Mario Ledesma, left, was Michael Cheika’s scrum coach at the Wallabies

The Wallabies’ two Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina in Sydney and Newcastle on November 21 and 28 have just taken on a razor sharpness following the announcement that former Australian coach Michael Cheika has been appointed adviser to the Pumas.

The man who in an interview with The Times in May said he would never coach against Australia has clearly succumbed to the persuasive skills of his long-time friend and former Wallabies assistant Mario Ledesma, now head coach of the Argentinians.

He will now find himself locking horns with the New Zealander who succeeded him as Wallabies coach, Dave Rennie, who by time of the Rugby Championship clash with the Pumas will have been national coach for only four Tests.

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Cheika took the Wallabies to the final of the 2015 World Cup at Twickenham – after being given a terrific scare by Scotland in the quarter-finals – and ended up gazumping New Zealand’s Steve Hansen for the title of Coach of the Year, despite the All Blacks’ eventual 34-17 victory in the Webb Ellis Cup final.

Four years later, in the World Cup in Japan, it was another story entirely. The Wallabies lost to Wales in the pool round before being eliminated by England in the quarter-final. Cheika resigned soon after, no doubt realising that his days with his then Rugby Australia boss, Raelene Castle, were surely numbered.

Cheika has behaved impeccably since standing down as coach, not saying a word of criticism of his successor or any of the players, but there is no question his presence in the Argentina coach’s box will enliven the occasion no end.

As his performances with the Waratahs in 2014 and the Wallabies in 2015 demonstrated, Cheika is the master of the short, sharp campaign, where emotion and physicality can count for plenty. He may have been found out in the latter years of his five-year reign, but there is no question that, in a six-match tournament, he can do wonders with a Pumas’ side that plays with ferocious passion.

Ledesma – who, like a dozen members of his squad, tested positive to the coronavirus but was asymptomatic — said he had first spoken to Cheika about coming on board at the start of the year, but intensified his campaign after the tournament was transferred from New Zealand to Australia.

“When the Championship was confirmed in Australia, we were able to dialogue and listen to his recommendations about places to train, schedules and even issues related to the weather,” Ledesma said.

“I proposed to him the idea of working together again and he was immediately interested. We agreed from the first moment. I noticed (he was) very excited. He always liked Argentine rugby a lot.

“He is a person who can bring us a lot of experience both to the group of players and to the staff. Undoubtedly, it is an excellent opportunity to continue learning because he is a person who thinks a lot about things outside the box who has an innovative and super creative vision, different from that of many coaches that I could choose.

“For his part, we have already been conducting several talks with him and the entire staff, about issues of the game, defence, attack, types of exercises, individual techniques and others. So that exchange was spectacular.”

Brumbies prop Scott Sio, who played 58 of his 63 Tests under Cheika, admitted he was looking forward to coming up against him.

Prop Scott Sio is relishing the challenge of taking on Michael Cheika

“I’m excited for what he can do with Argentine rugby,” Sio said on Friday. “Obviously he has worked with Mario before (Cheika brought him on as scrum coach for the 2015 World Cup). It will be interesting to see what they can do with that team there. When the time comes to play against them, we will be looking forward to a physical battle.

“It was something I was always thankful for, the opportunity there (to play under Cheika.) I wish him nothing but the best and I hope he goes well with Argentina – except for when they play against us.”

But before battle is joined in The Rugby Championship, Australia has two Bledisloe Cup Tests to play against the All Blacks in Wellington and Auckland on October 11 and 18 – the first Tests played anywhere in the world in the post-COVID era. The Wallabies on Friday took a charter flight to Christchurch, where they will complete their quarantine before being released just 24 hours before the opening Test in the NZ capital.

Meanwhile, the Western Force are poised to secure a major international signing with Irish World Cup fullback Rob Kearney firmly in their sights. Kearney, who played the last of his 95 Tests for his country – he played another three for the British and Irish Lions – against NZ in the World Cup quarter-final looks set to join the Force in their second season in the Super Rugby AU competition.

At 34, he was not offered a contract extension by his club of 15 years, Leinster, and while initially intending to head to Brive or Japan looks like taking the longer road to Western Australia.