Michael Cheika has ended his five-year spell in charge of Australia after his team crashed out of the World Cup against England on Saturday – the first time they have failed to reach the semi-finals since 2007.
Cheika had been tight-lipped on his future in the immediate aftermath of defeat, calling for fans and media to show “compassion” with the pain of a seventh straight loss to England still raw.
But on Sunday afternoon he announced that, as expected, he would be stepping down when his contract ends on December 31. Cheika, as ever, went out swinging.
"It's no secret I have no relationship with the [Rugby Australia] CEO [Raelene Castle] and not much with the Chairman [cameron Clyne],” he said.
"I knew from the final whistle but I just wanted to give it that little bit time to cool down, talk to my people and then make it clear.”
Cheika guided Australia to the World Cup final in 2015 but his team’s lack of cohesion, a kicking game or a Plan B were ruthlessly exposed by a strong England performance in Oita on Saturday.
The Wallabies dropped to seventh in the official world rankings after the defeat (below Japan, and their lowest ranking ever), and for Cheika this was a seventh straight loss to England under Eddie Jones, his old team-mate at Randwick in Sydney.
The Glasgow coach Dave Rennie, a New Zealander, is the favourite to take over from Cheika at the end of the year.
