'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.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to comments