Wallabies coaching changes around Michael Cheika ‘not the ideal scenario’, Raelene Castle admits

Rugby Australia boss reveals reason why she had ‘no relationship’ with former Wallabies coach.

No need to scratch your heads on this one … there's a very good reason why the relationship between Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle and former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was fractured. Pictures: File

Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle has revealed Michael Cheika’s displeasure with a new coaching management structure was the reason behind the breakdown in their relationship.

Cheika dramatically quit his post on Sunday following the Wallabies 40-16 thumping at the hands of England in their 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final.

Speaking to media after the game, Cheika admitted he had “no relationship” with Castle or Rugby Australia chairman Cameron Clyne.

In an interview with Fox Rugby’s Greg Clark, aired last night, Castle admitted the appointment of a new director of rugby Scott Johnson, who now oversees the Wallabies’ head coaching role, was “probably not the ideal scenario” — even though it came after a string of Wallabies losses.

“Those changes were important to make sure we had stability in rugby in Australia going forward,” she said.

“If you look at the results we’d had previous to that, there was a situation where a 50 per cent win rate for the Wallabies was not acceptable and we had to have a look and see what it is that we could do, considering that we’d appointed two previous Wallabies coaches in a crisis situation. That’s not an ideal way to appoint two coaches.”

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Even still, Castle said Cheika’s comments about their breakdown in their working relationship had come as a shock.

“Yeah I think it surprised me,” she said.

“At the end of the day, the CEO-coach relationships are never straightforward. Having gone through a number of them myself, you understand the ups and downs.

“We put some changes in place that Michael expressed he was not 100 per cent comfortable with. But at the end of the day, what I can tell you is the board continued to support Michael and gave him all the support he needed going into this World Cup.

A fair call from Michael Cheika❓🤔

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— FOX SPORTS Rugby (@FOXRUGBY) October 19, 2019

“We are disappointed, just like everyone else is. But we took the decision last year in November to make sure we gave Michael the support that he needed to put the best campaign together,” she said.

“That hasn’t turned out, we need to learn from that.”

Rugby Australia now turns its attention to the appointment of a new Wallabies coach, and Castle said time would be taken to identify the right candidate.

“We wanted to make sure that we had time that we could go through a process. The changes that we made were about setting us up for the longer term and now we have an opportunity with Michael not being reappointed to go through a process of appointment and through a proper process.”