Call it the Darren Lehmann effect. As with the storm-tossed Wallabies, no one thought much of the Australia cricket team when Lehmann was lobbed the head coach’s job in place of Mickey Arthur two weeks before the 2013 Ashes in England. Within a few months the new man was presiding over a thumping 5-0 home series victory over England. If Michael Cheika, hastily promoted to Australian rugby’s top role, wants to remind his players how swiftly sporting fortunes can change he need look no further.
Could history repeat itself between now and next year’s Rugby World Cup when the Wallabies, England and Wales will occupy the same pool? The appointment of the 47-year-old Cheika should give Australia fresh impetus, starting with this weekend’s opening fixture against the Barbarians at Twickenham. One glance at the team sheet reveals any number of players desperate to make an instant impact and divert attention away from the swirling off-field sagas which have dogged the squad for too long.
In Cheika, the Wallabies also have a coach who, as with Lehmann, believes lightening the mood off the field can pay performance dividends on it. Brian O’Driscoll, closely associated with Cheika during the latter’s successful Leinster years, remembers the “striking” impact the former Randwick back-row had on the dressing-room atmosphere after arriving in 2005. “The fun is back. We have new ideas and a level of coaching I haven’t had at Leinster for a couple of years,” recalled the former Lions and Ireland captain in his newly published autobiography. “Cheiks says he’s got a plan: win the league in year two and the Heineken Cup in year three.” Sure enough, it came to pass.
Having also steered the previously under-performing Waratahs to this year’s Super Rugby title, Cheika has wasted no time in setting a different tone. Already he has banned mobile phones at dinner and headphones in the dressing-room, revealing his old-school roots in the process. “I told the players Cyndi Lauper isn’t going to win them games. They looked at me and said: ‘Who is Cyndi Lauper?’”
Perhaps more significant is the hard‑edged attitude he intends to foster on the field. “Tough love” is a phrase which crops up a lot where Cheika is concerned, as the Waratahs scrum-half Nick Phipps cheerfully confirms. “Everyone’s got a job and you’ve got to do it. If not it’s not good enough. You just have to sit there and listen to him talking about the contact zone to know we’re going to have a very physical forward pack. He’s also the sort of bloke who loves getting in there and having a laugh with the players. It’s been a stressful few months and he wants to make sure the players genuinely love playing for the Wallabies.”
Those who know Cheika best also portray a man who knows his own mind. “I first met him in 1997 on a development tour to the UK with New South Wales,” recalls his new defence coach Nathan Grey, the former Wallaby centre. “You’ll always know where you stand with Michael. If you want to change his opinion you’ve got to provide a good argument. I enjoy his honesty and his intensity.”
In addition, Cheika will need to develop a thick skin, given the experiences of his predecessors Robbie Deans and Ewen McKenzie. Three coaches in 15 months have contributed to an air of public scepticism and off-field controversy continues to smoulder on the front mat of the Australian Rugby Union, Kurtley Beale having just received a second fine of £1,650 for his in-flight altercation with the former Wallaby staff member Di Patston.
On the other hand, Cheika is clutching a playing hand which many international coaches would kill for. As the narrow 29-28 Bledisloe Cup defeat to New Zealand in Brisbane showed, there is talent aplenty. Israel Folau, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano, Phipps and the skipper Michael Hooper were all outstanding. Add Will Genia, Quade Cooper, the new wing Henry Speight, the 100-cap Adam Ashley-Cooper, Scott Higginbotham, Matt Toomua and the giant Will Skelton and, if their set-piece holds up, there is no reason Australia cannot worry the best.
If Cheika can also restore David Pocock, James O’Connor and Stephen Moore and borrow the peerless Matt Giteau from Toulon for the World Cup, even the biggest Wallaby sceptics may just start to believe again. Several squad members are set to head offshore at the end of next year but such speculation is part of the modern game. Cheika, with next week’s Test against Wales looming, is more concerned with breeding harder-edged Wallabies for the future. “One thing you are not going to be in our set-up is spoon-fed,” stressed Cheika. “We need men to win things – they have to stand up and perform and take responsibility for what happens on the field.”
Barbarians v Australia, Twickenham, 2.30pm Saturday 1 November
Barbarians Tim Nanai-Williams; Frank Halai, Juan de Jongh, Francis Saili, Nick Cummins; Colin Slade, Tomás Cubelli; Steven Luatua, Matt Todd, Adam Thomson, Al Kellock, Dominic Bird, Angus Ta’avao, James Parsons, Matt Stevens Replacements Mahonri Schwalger, Thomas du Toit, Lourens Adriaanse, Heinrich Brussow, Matías Alemanno, Sarel Pretorius, Joaquín Tuculet, Marnitz Boshoff
Australia Israel Folaul; Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Toomua, Rob Horne; Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Ben McCalman, Matt Hodgson (c), Scott Higginbotham, James Horwill, Sam Carter, Ben Alexander, Saia Fainga’a, Benn Robinson Replacements James Hanson, James Slipper, Sekope Kepu, Will Skelton, Sean McMahon, Nic White, Bernard Foley, Christian Leali’ifano or Joe Tomane.
Referee Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
