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OPINION: Cheika - good at social media, rubbish at coaching

Michael Cheika

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has proved himself a master of social media this past week, with his response to a viral fan post showing a genuinely humble, personable side to the man. That’s lovely, he seems like a good bloke, but the fact is he keeps losing.

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To the non-NSW fan, Cheika basically came out of nowhere a few years ago as the coach of a Waratahs team that played with the skill and arrogance of a late-90s Wallabies squad to win Super Rugby in 2014.  Previously, he had a Heineken Cup win with Leinster in 2009 but the records of seasons in-between wreak of just okay performances from top-tier squads.

Since his shock elevation to the Wallabies role, Cheika’s record has been patchy, with his only 100% win ratios coming against the powerhouses of USA, Uruguay, Wales, Fiji and Argentina (admittedly this last one is surprisingly good). Most telling are his 1-in-6 win records against both England and New Zealand.

But Michael Cheika does seem like a nice guy. Someone you’d like to have a beer and a few grunts with. He certainly comes across as the somewhat credible one in a pack of ARU crash test dummies that has driven a once thriving game into international rugby laughing-stock territory.

Which is why, in the Trumpest way possible, a nice sweet social media distraction is just the thing the ARU and Wallabies would be relishing in the wake of the Scotland embarrassment and the Super Rugby disgrace, which Rugby Netizens and casual fans on Facebook alike are now happily forgetting because the coach seems like a genuine, nice, honest guy.

For their part, the Wallabies appear to be happily milking their Cheika’s back-and-forth with passionate fan Jack Quigley in the hope that disconsolate honesty will conveniently help disenfranchised Wallabies fans forget how badly their team lost to Scotland last weekend. And how they haven’t beaten the All Blacks for how many years. And how their Under 20s team barely registered a Share or Like on the near-daily viral bites from the Junior World Champs. And how, most importantly, their governing body has failed the sport so badly in recent years that its best young players covet Euros, Pounds and Yen over the green and gold jersey.

At the end of the day though, I hope Wallabies fans will remember that, while Michael is now probably top of your mum and dad’s current people-I-wouldn’t-mind-inviting-to-dinner list, his coaching record is actually average and trending downwards. Nice guy though.

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Tom 8 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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LONG READ Does the next Wallabies coach have to be an Australian? Does the next Wallabies coach have to be an Australian?
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