Cheika transforms Wallabies from chumps into champs

Funny how a weekend changes everything. Before Australia’s game against England last Saturday, the Wallabies were very much under the radar. No one was talking about them. All the talk was about New Zealand, England and Wales, with Ireland as the dark horses.

As a friend said incredulously: “Didn’t anyone watch the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship in August, the one they won by beating South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina? Don’t they know or realise that Australia are now a very different team these days, with much better forwards, a much better scrum and a backline that is much more direct?”

I have been telling everyone who cared to listen, and have an opinion, that Australia have changed a lot under Michael Cheika, who came on board 11 months ago.

I was sick of hearing from English mates about how England were going to dust the Wallabies in the forwards, and smash Australia in the scrum.

Well, results speak for themselves. Australia had a record score against England at Twickenham. Clearly, Cheika has done more in 11 months than England coach Stuart Lancaster has done in four years.

I used to play against Cheika for some years in the Sydney first division club competition. He was loud, stubborn, full of passion and a right pain in the arse.

“Shut up, Cheika,” we used to say. He was always in your ear, trying to put you off your game. You could argue he is much the same today, but older, wiser and smarter for sure.

I do not confess to know him so well, but I’ve heard plenty from his former teammates, current players, and I have also made my own observations from hosting him at a few official functions this year, and a few press conferences here.

Cheika has been described as “old school”, a complicated book, and a successful and smart businessman. After he coached at Leinster, Ireland, and the New South Wales (NSW) Waratahs, and led them to Heineken Cup and Super Rugby glory, respectively, in 2009 and 2013, he became known as a coach who can get a team back on track.

Indeed, he is the only coach to have won titles in the northern and the southern hemispheres.

Cheika inherited an Australia team in disarray in October 2014, after the sudden resignation of Ewen McKenzie. He became their third coach in 13 months, and things were not looking too promising after the Wallabies lost three out of their first four Tests under him.

So what has he done to transform a middling Australia side that was ranked sixth in the world into Rugby Championship winners and now Rugby World Cup contenders in less than a year? He has obviously fixed the areas that Australia were weak in, such as their scrum, and he has strengthened the squad by bringing in a new set of coaches and a number of players.

But, more importantly, Cheika has clearly restored a sense of belief and respect in his squad.

What I can see, and what I have been told, is that he respects his players, and they respect him, that he talks often to them about having a clear identity about the way he wants things done, the way he wants the game to be played, and a strong sense of who the team are playing for.

For example, a current Wallaby told me in Birmingham last Sunday that Cheika is honest and direct with them.

Likewise, back in 2013, after Cheika led the Waratahs to the Super Rugby title — and this after two very bleak seasons in which they didn’t even reach the final rounds — I asked a former Wallaby forward-turned-commentator, who played with him at club level, what he thought Cheika had done to transform the team.

His reply: “He works them hard, he doesn’t take any crap, and he has brought a bit of fun back to the workplace.”

Apparently Cheika had told the team early on: “I’m not your mother, father, wife, girlfriend, partner, so don’t bring your crap to the office. Leave it at home. When you get here, we work hard, but we have some fun at work too.”

Just the other day, current Irish fly-half Johnny Sexton, who was coached by Cheika at Leinster, was asked why Cheika was so successful.

He replied: “Because everyone is cared s***less of him!”

That may be true, but I think it is more about the passion that he oozes from every pore. I have witnessed it myself when I hosted a couple of events with him this year. Open and articulate, he spoke about the pride of the Wallaby shirt, what it means to wear it, and how you do not have such an opportunity for very long.

That is nothing new, but it is the way he says it, and how often he says it. He has not swung a golf club in the changing room at the players yet (not that I know of), like he did at a Warratahs game at half-time, but you will always see him fired up, and firing up his players.

Another current Wallaby also related to me in Birmingham how he had to adjust to Cheika’s rules. Now, that is no different from other coaches, but they are simple ones so players know where they stand.

This particular player was new to the team, as he had just been brought back into the squad. He was also used to having a few glasses of rose wine over lunch. Cheika observed this habit early on, raised his eyebrows, and simply told him to stop. As Cheika has said many times, players know that if they cross the line, they are out.

What does all this mean? He has a team of players that believe in, and are playing for, one another.

I asked Cheika in Birmingham what areas he had been most happy with so far. He said that he is happy with how hard his players are working, and how they have progressed. But he also wants them to be more physical.

Also, he does not care what decisions they make on the field, as long as they make it and back themselves.

That vision, clarity and mutual respect, with the support of assistant coaches Stephen Larkham, Nathan Grey (who are both former Wallabies) and former Argentine forward Mario Ledesma led to that great performance last Saturday.

There is still a lot of hard work left to do. Now the Wallabies have to do what they did against England four more times if they are to win the Webb Ellis trophy.

About the author:

TODAY guest columnist Justin Sampson coached the Singapore national rugby team from 1996 to 2002. He is also a former New South Wales Country and North Harbour player who faced the All Blacks in 1988 and the British Lions in 1989. Since 1997, he has been a rugby commentator for several international media outlets, including ESPN Star Sports, Australia’s ABC TV and Hong Kong’s RTHK Radio. He is also a motivational speaker and leadership trainer.