Cheika's job not Wallabies' worry
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP SPOTLIGHT: After a June Test series defeat to Ireland and a defeat to New Zealand last weekend, the Australian rugby fraternity is getting a little exasperated of seeing Michael Cheika as the head coach.
According to the Australian media reports, the Wallabies’ first Test loss in Sydney saw Cheika’s position come under scrutiny this week, culminating in a speculative report in The Australian newspaper suggesting Rugby Australia would give Cheika three more Tests to turn the tide or face questions about his future.
The 51-year-old was named world coach of the year in 2015 after taking the Wallabies to the Rugby World Cup final, having only replaced Ewen McKenzie a year earlier.
Cheika is contracted until the end of 2019.
But with just one win in the last six matches, there is escalating pressure on the head coach.
When asked if the Wallabies would be playing for their coach’s job on Saturday, captain Michael Hooper insisted the Australian squad will be playing for the whole country.
“There’s a million people we could say we’re doing it for,” Hooper said.
“We play for our country and that’s a huge amount of motivation.
“We want them to be proud of this team and that’s something we weren’t able to do at the back end of last week.
“Family… [we] play for each other [as] teammates. There are a thousand things we play for,”
History is against Australia in Auckland, where the Wallabies have not beaten their trans-Tasman rivals in a Bledisloe Cup clash since 1986.
“We’re thinking about tomorrow, as simple and cliché as it sounds we’re thinking about tomorrow night,” Hooper continued.
“It has been on my mind all week, tomorrow night. And I can’t wait for that we’re one day away.
“I wasn’t there in ’82 – I wasn’t alive – or whenever, ’84? ’86, so that’s how much I’ve been paying attention to that stuff,”
With loads of the finger-pointing in the Australian camp after last week’s loss has been levelled at the tight five where coach Cheika has reacted with a front row shake-up, bringing in Brumbies props Allan Alaalatoa and Scott Sio.
In the backs, Jack Maddocks gets his first Test start on the right wing while Dane Haylett-Petty replaces injured fullback Israel Folau.
Hooper said the Wallabies had done a lot of work to improve their set piece.
“It obviously wasn’t up to par last week and it stifled our attack, put a lot of pressure on our defence to be able to deal with New Zealand which we did for a period of time.
“So we’ve done a good amount of work on that this week. I’m confident with where our lineouts are at and the options we’ve got there,”
Source: AFP & @rugbycomau
