Larkham praise for Cheika's progress
The World Cup has been a tantalising indicator of what the Wallabies could reach in four years even if the likes of Matt Giteau, Stephen Moore and Adam Ashley-Cooper may not be there.
Cheika himself said after the 34-17 defeat at Twickenham that he had told his players: "'Don't be counting down lads, this is just the start'."
Stephen Larkham, Cheika's backs coach, a World Cup winner in 1999 and runner-up in 2003, summed up how far Cheika has brought the Wallabies since taking over in October last year.
"I think this journey is fairly similar," said Larkham, who came in to the Wallaby set-up in February and produced a vibrant backline.
"We've had an accelerated little growth together, whereas in 1999 and 2003 we had two years of preparation," he said.
"But I'd say these boys are at the stage we were at in particularly 1999 and 2003."
Cheika took over a squad riven by factionalism and laid low by scandal after Ewen McKenzie quit last year.
It is fair to say the 48-year-old Cheika – a gritty No.8 in his day who never played Test rugby – instilled a "no fear factor" into the team that was on display as they fought hard battles against England, Wales, Scotland and Argentina to reach the final.
Cheika, who at Leinster and the Waratahs became the only coach to win the club continental championships in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, calmed the stormy seas to start by dealing with rowdier elements such as Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale.
"The decisive appointment of Cheika in difficult circumstances a year ago was a masterstroke," wrote England's 2003 World Cup winning coach Clive Woodward in the Daily Mail.
"He wasted no time in transforming the mindset of the team.
"With so much drama in recent years around guys like Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper everyone knows they are a team of bold and forthright characters and some have made bad decisions along the way.
"But now everybody seems so together.
"Beale and Cooper have played their roles off the bench without a whimper."
Cheika's trusty skipper Moore – whom he re-appointed to the post in July – says the coach managed to unite the team like no one before.
"I think the biggest difference since he arrived is probably getting everybody on the same page and getting everyone aligned in the same way with regards to what we stand for, who we are playing for and who we are representing," Moore told AFP prior to the 29-15 semifinal win over Argentina.
"He has succeeded in bringing players closer together from different teams across Australia and creating special bonds.
"We have become a very tight knit group."
On the playing front Cheika's insistence on playing the Aussie way has endeared his side to the neutral observer too as testified to by Woodward.
"Cheika has also got his side very fit and playing the 'Australian way' – high speed and positive, playmakers everywhere.
"Their rugby has been a joy to watch, a template for the modern game."
The last word deserves to go to the man himself, who by dint of coming to the majority of the press conferences shielded a lot of the players, and his simple observation about what they'd tried to set out to do.
"All we've tried to do is show we're not all guys who are camped out by the billabong with a cork hat."
That they certainly did and they went out with all guns blazing.
Agence France-Presse
