Wallabies v All Blacks 2017
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
What Wallabies coach Michael Cheika learnt from All Blacks v Lions series
So apparently Michael Cheika can learn stuff., what did he learn?
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
IT can’t be easy being Michael Cheika.
The Wallabies coach — who guided the Waratahs to the 2014 Super Rugby title — has had to watch on helplessly through a 25-0 New Zealand shutout of Australian teams this season... and now he’s expected to turn these blokes into Bledisloe Cup droughtbreakers?
Good luck with that.
But Cheika’s not into self pity and nor will that do him or his team any good.
The sun was shining at Cheika’s Coogee Oval happy place on Wednesday as he prepares to roll up the sleeves and put a 38-man train-on squad through its paces.
Next week promises to be a brutal conditioning block, given Cheika’s penchant for hard yakka and an admission that some players came into the June Test window in below-par physical condition.
So number one is to not change his training methods?
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
The Australian rugby public understands that the All Blacks are simply superior to this current Wallabies side and most probably expect a 3-0 Bledisloe series defeat.
What they will not cop, however, is a repeat of the shambolic Scotland loss or last year’s 42-8 annihilation in Bledisloe I.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/...140e428515d95fWallabies coach Michael Cheika speaks to the media at Coogee Oval.Source: AFP
So did the All Blacks v British and Irish Lions series provide just a sliver of hope?
Despite only leading for three of the 240 minutes, Warren Gatland’s Lions defied the odds to hold the All Blacks to a drawn series, riding Owen Farrell’s boot, Andy Farrell’s patented rush defence and a few moments of magic from the likes of Liam Williams and Conor Murray.
Cheika, of course, was an interested observer and has plenty of time to plot for the August 19 Rugby Championship opener in Sydney.
“We’ve obviously got different personnel (to the Lions), we play a slightly different way but there would be a few things that we would be naive not to have a look at, with what they did that put a bit of pressure on at different times of the game,” Cheika told foxsports.com.au.
Aaaah, here we go, he learned to look at successful teams and identify what they do to beat the All Blacks, this looks promising!
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“New Zealand was missing a few players throughout that series as well, that were crucial to their campaign.
“They’ve still got so much weaponry that we’ve got to be ready for and over the next few weeks we’re going to do our best to be ready.”
READ MORE: Winners and losers in Wallabies squad
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/...2ac296fd1235e0The British and Irish Lions and All Blacks after sharing the series at Eden Park in Auckland.Source: AFP
The Lions used a kick-heavy gameplan against the All Blacks with mixed results.
Cheika said he gained limited tactical nuggets from the series but a reminder of the ferocity required from top rugby teams.
“I thought the games were about intensity,” Cheika said.
Hang on.....He's always said it's about intensity, did he learn anything at all?
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“If you’re going to take something out of it, that’s the huge thing.
Nope, nothing tactically, just "get fired up more"
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“The intensity of the games almost eliminated some of the tactical stuff.
Seriously? So the Lions actually challenged the All Blacks and all they did was play with more "Intensity"?
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“Maybe in game one there was a bit more of that (tactics), but that’s (intensity) probably the thing you see the most.
OK Good, so there's some tasty nugget of a chink in the vaunted All Black armour which he can exploit to make us not look like we play for an Albanian Kindergarten
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“All the players would be looking at it and you don’t need to be watching another team, you need to be playing at the highest intensity of your life to be able to compete with them (All Blacks).
There it is again, we will win the Bledisloe if we can only play with "intensity"
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“That’s what we’re going to be doing.”
And apparently this year we're going to be trying HARD ENOUGH, So why the hell is his current train on squad brimming with Tahs and Reds? Both teams have been comprehensively out-enthused since the test window closed
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
No shit Sherlock, could it be because the only thing the head coach gets from watching the Blackness come within a bee's dick of getting dusted is "intensity"?
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
The two men were in regular contact anyway but the relationship is now formalised after Kafer’s appointment to a high performance role.
So they've been talking regularly and nothing has changed, so what will change now that the ARU are throwing money at Kafer, will they talk less?
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“That creativity, smarts is something I grew up with and like to think I’m still coaching,” Cheika said.
“It’s not just about running rugby, it’s more about the speed and intensity as well, and being able to deliver that creativity at high speed.
“Because what’s changed is the advent of defence, defences have improved out of sight.
So it isn't about running? It's about intensity? and Defense, well thank God we've got Nathan Grey running the Aussie defense, he's done such a bang up job with the Tahs
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“So the creative rugby is a lot more challenging and that’s why you’re seeing teams kick more, because sometimes it’s just easier to defend.
So everybody is kicking because running is hard? One would think a professional athlete might choose to spend some time doing stuff that's hard, the All Blacks seem to manage to fit it in
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“That’s something we try not to do.
Of course, we're focusing on "intensity"
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Originally Posted by Fox Sports
“You see it in our game sometimes — we go off on those long phases of play, then there’s an error, they kick it down the other end and the momentum swings.
“So it’s a balance.
“To play that attacking style you’ve got to have a certain fitness level because you’ve got to be working harder.”
I think Michael Cheika is holding on as hard as he can in the hope of getting a good severance package, there was nothing in that interview to make me confident.
Original https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/w...m_campaign=crm
