Cheika hurting after turbulent tenure

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Michael Cheika has opened up about his turbulent tenure as Wallabies head coach.

After coaching the Wallabies to the World Cup Final in 2015, Cheika’s time as coach failed to live up to expectations in Australia.

The 53-year-old wasn’t able to win anything meaningful with the Wallabies with his tenure ending in a disappointing quarterfinal defeat to England at last year’s World Cup in Japan.

Cheika has since been working as a NRL consultant with the Sydney Roosters.

“Am I satisfied in the end?,” he said in an interview with Fox Sports’ League Live.

“No, because I wanted to win a Bledisloe and win the World Cup and I wasn’t able to do that.

“That hurts me personally because I really value the supporter on the street and I know that’s what they want.

“I see it in my own family.

“The kids are watching the game, all dressed in their jerseys and then the next morning, if you lose, they’re unhappy.

“So, I feel it in my own family.”

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Despite his failures, Cheika, who is the son of Lebanese immigrants, said he was honoured to coach Australia at the highest level.

“I’ve always been an outsider in rugby, outside the establishment,” Cheika said.

“Considering the circumstances we had going on in Australian rugby in the last five years, we always represented with maximum courage.

“Sometimes we weren’t at our best, had terrible halves and had to make comebacks.

“And we had some great wins as well.

“Our consistency was lacking.

“The Wallabies are a result of our preparations in Super Rugby and they’ve been difficult because we’ve had a lot going on.

“I’m proud of being part of some of the great wins.

“A lot of them played above their potential.”

Source: Fox Sports