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The two things standing in the way of the ARU sacking Michael Cheika
Michael Lynagh believes Michael Cheika is bulletproof heading into next year’s World Cup in Japan even if the Wallabies continue their poor record in Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand in Yokohama and on the European tour.
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As part of their build-up to the 2019 World Cup, the Wallabies face the All Blacks on Saturday, before heading to Europe for their November tests against Wales (Nov 11), Italy (Nov 18) and England (Nov 25).
The Wallabies go into the Yokohama game having been thumped in the two clashes with New Zealand this season and have lost nine of their last ten matches with the All Blacks.
Having been given the dreaded vote of confidence by the Australian Rugby Union, Cheika appears to have dodged a bullet, but another series of losses will leave him exposed again.
However, Lynagh said: “He will stay because a) there is nobody else and b)there is a financial issue that the ARU wouldn’t be able to meet. So, on both those fronts the logistics of trying to get rid of Michael are not right. You have to ask is Michael the right guy to take the team forward and for me that is the case.
“Over the last two years he has been tinkering with the team, moving people around including putting Kurtley Beale at outside half who hasn’t played there much since school.
“Maybe they are thinking about the World Cup and what happens if Bernard Foley falls over. Is Kurtley the next No.10 – quite possibly he is. Foley hasn’t been the same sparkling player we saw at the last World Cup so the people around him are getting the chance to play with Beale. Obviously we want to be winning, but maybe there is a method to what Cheika has been doing.”
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The November tour will allow Cheika to meet up with Will Skelton who has undergone a physical transformation in his second spell at Premiership champions Saracens where he has lost two stones and now weighs in at 21.1st which still means he is the biggest lock available to his country.
Skelton’s fitness has improved and the 6ft 8ins lock is now delivering consistently impressed performances, featuring power running and better defensive reliability. With his current contract ending this summer, it is understood the Australian Rugby Union are interested in bringing him home although their finances are unlikely to match the spending power of Saracens.
Mark McCall has made it clear it is up to Skelton to decide if he wants another lucrative contract with the club which means extending his international exile or return to Australia to add to his 18 Wallaby test appearances – he cannot have both.
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World Cup winner Lynagh, who was one of Saracens early headline grabbing signings when the game went professional, has been closely watching Skelton’s transformation in London and said: “I saw him after a recent Sarries game and thought “that jersey is hanging off him!” It is unbelievable but even though he has lost weight he is still a big man – two of me.
“Cheika used Skelton a lot when he was coaching the Waratahs so he knows all about him. Cheika will be impressed with what Skelton has done at Sarries and he will be on the coach’s radar but while he is in England he cannot play for the Wallabies. However, if he goes back and plays Super Rugby and becomes eligible, that has to be a positive thing and the more depth the better because so much can happen before and during the World Cup.
“I imagine Cheika will catch up with Skelton when he is here for the England game. I am sure Skelton wants to be part of the Wallabies at the World Cup and he is currently playing with a very good team and learning a lot. Just getting away can make you a better player and just look at how Beale is a much more mature and complete player having spent time at Wasps.
“Skelton has some real skills and if he is coming at you then you will need your mate’s help which means he draws two or three people towards him which allows him to then off-load. That is a real big advantage for any team and with Sarries missing the Vunipola brothers then his ball carrying and off-loading becomes more important.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Who hurt this man.. LoL 😭
197 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
2 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
197 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
2 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
4 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
4 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to commentsDom kant
197 Go to commentsBen is a little incel desperately trying to stir the pot and stay relevant. We used to get mad at his articles. Now we just feel sorry for him
197 Go to commentsPerhaps we may need to put an asterisk on NZ’s ‘87 WC win since the Boks weren’t there. You know, just as a reminder. Poor Ben Smith. Go cry somewhere else.
197 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
3 Go to commentsThanks for a much more balanced piece Ned and not that BS that Bin Smuth just posted a short while ago. read this article and then Bin Smuth’s and tell me there isn’t a huge difference🙄
3 Go to commentsWere the Baby Boks part of this game or did the Baby Blacks play themselves?🤔 That man Bin Smuth once again does a little write-up on the game and it is like 95% about the Baby Blacks🤣 Glad he ends off with the Baby Blacks were actually in cruise control for most of the game and weren’t actually playing for the win WTF🤣🤣 Maybe he was expecting the Baby Blacks to run rampant….
4 Go to commentsOne does not expect anything more from Ben Smith who epitomises the worst of New Zealand media arrogance and an inability to balance what he has to say about any team that beats the All Blacks. His reference to context is pathetically thin. He does not comment that Frizell deserved a red card given his blatant manipulation of his body to ensure that he could drop his body weight onto Mbonambi’s lower leg. No mention of the ball lost forward before the All Black’s try (lost in-field of the 5 metre line and gathered beyond). The All Black commitment and effort was superb and there was little in it. Given the Springbok passage to the final and the loss of their hooker in the first three minutes, their resolve and capacity to win their fourth final out of eight attempts (not three out of ten) deserves the praise that has been forthcoming from media around the world, worth reading and listening to. Ben should join his “pundit” friends on TV - he would fit in well. This sort of article reduces any credibility Rugby Pass has ever had. Why persist with this sort of nonsense? The man does his country and a rugby blog a disservice.
197 Go to commentsEtzebeth went on to say: “I would never dream of saying that systems stay in place following a change in captain. To say that would be deeply, deeply, disrespectful of Siya. A while back an Irish person told me they would be fine without Sexton, so I’m just responding to that.”
3 Go to commentsClose games are what we want to see…. What a match it was…. I am sure that everyone was drained by the end of it. The reality of it all there has to be a winner and a loser. The fact that we still talking about it is almost 6 months to the day Rugby is the winner.. Asante sana… Here is to 2027 and what it will bring out.
197 Go to commentsIt’s going to be a good game. COYQ
1 Go to comments“Shock”, the guy was casually saying he was just slightly surprised. Nowadays if you say anything it gets taken completely out of context. Calm down everyone.
156 Go to commentsAll I can say after reading this bitter, sour, sad piece is… Thank you very much! This will be read in the change room just before kick off on 31 August…
197 Go to commentsLook, we know contradicting opinions and wacky comments bring readers and clicks, so well done to RP for allowing always-wrong-Ben to say something here. However RP needs to put a disclaimer next to his comments for their own credibility. NZ was and is incapable of acknowledging their opp beating them. They refused so with Ire and with Arg in 2022 and also the Boks in 2023 x 2. Nothing Ben says here holds water, NZ attacked backwards, except when Kolisi and Kolbe was off And cyncialy took out Bongi, we played without lineouts for 75mins. Kolisi and Kurt-Lee almost scored twice. Thats 3 vs 2 for Boks, but the Boks opportunities was legal. Boks should have been 16-3 up by half time. Tacticaly the Boks attacked better defended better scrummed better (without a hooker) kicked better and crossed the whitewash more times. Boks beat Fr Eng Nz to win in 23, comeon give some credit at least. Even Federer Verstappen NY Mets, Mamoa, was able to see a great human sport achievement by the Boks and their DNA Boks #RWC27 !🏉
197 Go to comments