'He'll be loving it': Pumas coach Cheika on Ian Foster's 'tough' position

Argentina’s new head coach Michael Cheika has weighed in on Ian Foster’s ‘tough’ position with the All Blacks with an interesting perspective.

Joining Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown ahead of Los Pumas test with the All Blacks in Christchurch, Cheika said that Foster should be ‘loving’ his position as head coach.

He explained that being in charge of a country like New Zealand with the resources at their disposal is a privilege that any coach would enjoy.

“It’s not work at all, he’s the coach of New Zealand, one of the best countries in the world at rugby,” Cheika told The Breakdown panel.

“He’ll be loving it, even when it’s tough mate, it doesn’t matter. That comes with the territory of footy. It gets tough.

“It’s a brilliant position to have, it’s a great honor if you are in it, and you love it, you get to go out and be involved in footy every day.

“It doesn’t matter how tough it gets, it’s part of the game, just like when you were a player.”

The former Wallabies head coach knows about coming under pressure as his Australian team went through a lean run of results following the 2015 Rugby World Cup final appearance.

Cheika maintained his position as head coach through to the 2019 Rugby World Cup but was let go after the quarter-final loss to England.

Joining Los Pumas staff in 2020, he was elevated to head coach of Argentina after Mario Ledesma called it quits after a tough 2021 season.

Cheika’s Pumas bounced back last week to beat the Wallabies 48-17 in a reversal of the first test between the sides.

“The first test was very disappointing actually, we were in a good position to win that,” the Pumas head coach said.

“In the back end, we gave away seven penalties in six minutes or something like that.

“There has been a lot of changes around the style, with different coaching team, it’s a different style we are looking to play.

“The more you get to use that, not just at training but in live game situations, and it works for you, and they click, they start to believe in things a bit more.

“Which is a process longer term. We did make a few small changes tactically [for the second test] but it was more about believing in what we are up to.

Former Argentina flyhalf Felipe Contepomi has joined the coaching staff which has helped Cheika translate as they bring a new style of play to the Pumas.

The two have a working history dating back to their time at Leinster where Contepomi played for several seasons up to 2009.

“He’s a different man as a coach than as a player. He’s become a lot more measured,” Cheika said of his assistant.

“The fire that he shows has been channeled internally and he’s obviously got great experience with Leinster, coaching there, learning a lot from the great coaches they’ve had there.

“I think he brings a lot of things I remember from way back when we went there [Leinster] originally.

“A lot of those attacking principles, a lot of detail around the preparation, and we’re coaching a little bit different here.

“Everyone is taking a bit of a role in everything.”