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Cheika and Larkham aren't in the country so slip out a media release to avoid answering questions
Larkham dumped as Wallabies assistant coach
Georgina Robinson
By Georgina Robinson
4 February 2019 — 2:17pm
Stephen Larkham has been dumped as Wallabies assistant coach and appointed national high performance coach adviser.
Larkham, who flew to Laos on Sunday with a rugby development charity, said he and Wallabies coach Michael Cheika could not agree on the attacking strategy for the team and "overall game philosophy".
Disappointed: Stephen Larkham.
Disappointed: Stephen Larkham.CREDIT:KARLEEN MINNEY
"Ultimately Michael is responsible for the performance of the team. We have differences in attacking strategy and overall game philosophy. We couldn’t agree on these key points and it is in the best interest of the team that they receive clear and consistent messages from their coaches," he said in a statement.
"I am obviously disappointed with this outcome as I had chosen to pursue the experience of taking the Wallabies through to the World Cup, however I am pleased to be able to continue coaching and contributing to Australian Rugby in this new role."
The Herald revealed in December that Cheika proposed the change at a board meeting after the team's return from the spring tour in November.
It is a sad end to a coaching partnership that promised much but delivered little. Larkham was hand-picked by Cheika to help him rebuild the Wallabies in 2015. As recently as a year ago Cheika anointed Larkham his successor post-2019.
Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle said: "We are very pleased that Stephen has agreed to take on this role. He was one of our greatest ever Wallabies and has developed a strong depth of experience during his coaching roles with the Brumbies and Qantas Wallabies.
"It was very important from Rugby Australia’s perspective to retain Stephen’s services and to ensure his experience is used to grow and develop coaches and players in our next generation.
"We will also look to support Stephen in his transition into another head coach role."
Strength and conditioning coach Haydn Masters, a longtime associate of Cheika's having led the Waratahs' athletic performance program in the lead up to their 2014 title win, also resigned from the Wallabies set-up.
Former Brumbies strength and conditioning guru Dean Benton has been touted as a possible replacement.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne
Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca
https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
"There's an associate producer credit in it for ya?"
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
Absolutely farcical from start to finish ...
Did they agree in 2015?
Doesn't the Asst Coach follow the Head Coach lead & get on with it given there's a head & asst?
A not very amicable split takes one of the parties into a coaching mentoring role ... seriously?
Helpful transition into another head coach role ... so the advisory role is a stop gap in the ARU payroll?
No change in Defence Coach ...?
"The whole point of rugby is that it is, first and foremost, a state of mind, a spirit." - Jean-Pierre Rives
Kev the buck stops with the head coach who was too gutless to resign. Georgina Robinson wrote in her article that Larkham isn’t in the country (typical of the Clown College and Cheika is overseas on a junket) and updated it with the expected news that Cheika threw Larkham under the bus in front of the board.
A proper board should have told Cheika you need to own and wear your results and selections. Instead they are throwing away more dead money at fixing his mess.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne
Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca
https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
Interesting that Haydn Masters has gone too. Does it suggest more deep seated problems or is he a rat bailing on a sinking ship?
What’s the bets that Cheiks is using his little junket overseas to spruik about for a new job.
Cheika has been going on about fitness for a while even though he portions the blame at the Super Rugby set ups.
Too me this has been going prior to Cheika’s tenure. Beale turned up to Super Rugby pre season many years back after having his best year as a pro performance wise (2010). Deans had two players go out for burgers at 4am in the lead up to a Lions test. McKenzie dropped players who were out of condition. One common denominator in all of these episodes is Kurtley Beale.
Bernard Foley’s recent comments are also interesting. He confirmed that a lot of the recent camp was spent doing fitness work. The camp went on for too long given the players who have come back from an extended break are taken away from their coaches preparing for the Super Rugby season.
Foley also said that there is little coherence over the rest program for Wallabies particularly in regards to how many matches they will miss.
Here’s hoping.
Given the toxic nature of Bernie's relationship with Cheika, their complete disagreement over BOTH attack and general playing philosophy, and Cheika throwing him under the bus at the laughable board meeting, what's the change room going to be like?
I actually look at them play now with a jaundice eye, waiting for the fuckups. all three spring tour games were a farce. I used to love watching the Wallabies. Thanks for nothing RA and Cheika
The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor
Cheika has form he found a bs excuse to get rid of Knox at Leinster stating to the board that he didn’t think Knox enjoyed living in Dublin. Knox was furious at that comment and he said he often didn’t agree with Cheika was doing with the style of play (sounds familiar). They haven’t spoken since. Sexton still uses the loop that Knox taught him.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne
Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca
https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
Aahh - just a classic statement...
Hansen labels Cheika "Mickey Mouse" ahead of Rugby World Cup
TODAY AT 9:41 AM RUGBY WORLD CUP
Steve Hansen has already started throwing barbs. Photo: Getty Images
Steve Hansen has already started throwing barbs. Photo: Getty Images
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by Staff Writer
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has labelled Michael Cheika as “Mickey Mouse” and said the Wallabies coach “lets himself down” with uncontrolled emotional outbursts.
Stuff.co.nz reported Hansen made the comments at a Circa Theater fundraiser in the capital where he was being interviewed by former Kiwi television presenter Ian Fraser.
Fraser referenced a quote from Wallabies legend Mark Ella that "Mickey Mouse could coach the All Blacks to victory" because of the quality of the players at Hansen's disposal.
In a strongly pointed barb at his rival coach ahead of the World Cup, Hansen responded by saying: "They've got Mickey Mouse coaching Aussie."
The 2015 World Cup-winning coach went on to detail some of the ways the All Blacks have tried to get under Cheika's skin in their recent encounters.
"Michael Cheika, who by the way isn't a bad bloke, he just gets a bit emotional, and as you well know we thought we'd get him emotional and take his mind off the job," he said.
"The plan was not to call him by his name but just say he's the Australian coach. Then he went on a tirade about not respecting him.
"I guess what we're trying to do there is take his mind off the job and while I say he's not a bad bloke, he's got to control his emotions. I think he's got a good side, he does a good job of the coaching, but sometimes he just lets himself down there."
It's not just Cheika who has been the target of some mental warfare by Hansen, with the Kiwi admitting playing mind games with Warren Gatland during the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour.
"We probably had him where we needed him and then the bloody (New Zealand) Herald made a picture of him as a clown, which I didn't think was right, so I had to back off."
New Zealand Rugby has been contacted for comment.
Mountain made out of a molehill. He was just speaking the truth.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne
Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca
https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
Wayne Smiths article today in The Australian
Rugby’s world league warning
FEBRUARY 05, 2019
SANZAAR boss Andy Marinos yesterday cautioned the southern hemisphere national unions to take heed of the hard road Italy had travelled since joining the Six Nations when they were considering whether to add Japan and Fiji to The Rugby Championship.
The Super Rugby season in Australia was launched yesterday in Sydney but the proposed World League is never far from the surface at any rugby gathering and Marinos was not overly effusive in support of the planned reorganisation of rugby on a global scale.
“I think there’s an open-mindedness from SANZAAR and our national unions around the TRC,” Marinos said. “You’ve got to make sure the competitiveness is there. And there have been some pretty good lessons learnt in the north when the Five Nations went to the Six Nations. We’ve seen the journey the Italians have had to have.”
If the World League is to work, it will involve expanding the Rugby Championship from its existing four teams — Australia, NZ, South Africa and Argentina — to a six-team competition which will mirror the Six Nations. It is a proposal that has almost come out of the blue and while Italy is effectively the only non-competitive side in the Six Nations, there is every chance that Japan and Fiji both could be on the receiving end of some heavy thrashings in TRC, especially in the early days.
The last time Australia played Japan, in 2017, it resulted in a 63-30 win, while NZ last November was able to send its leading 22 players to Europe and still accounted for Japan 69-31. By the same token, South Africa will not be mentioning its record against Japan, having been on the receiving end of a 34-32 defeat in the one Test the two countries have played, at the 2015 World Cup.
The irony is that SANZAAR, at its meeting next month in Dublin, will consider adding Japan to TRC while at the same time debating whether to ditch it from Super Rugby.
“With our broadcast cycle coming up, we’ve got to focus on what’s best for the southern hemisphere, first and foremost, and put our very best aggregate structure forward,” said Marinos. There was no need for him to point out the obvious that Japan sits on the north side of the equator.
“I think with Japan, it’s an exciting market. They (the Japanese team, the Sunwolves) have had improvements every year. Again, that’s part of a much wider debate on how do we get a more sustainable structure in that market that’s going to lead to a more successful international team. Is that through Super Rugby or through other means?”
While Marinos was fielding awkward questions about the future of SANZAAR, Raelene Castle was doing likewise, but on the current state of Australian rugby.
The Rugby Australia chief executive has come under fire for creating a coaching position to keep unwanted Wallabies attack coach Steve Larkham in the country, at a time when RA is dealing with the ramifications of dumping Western Force from Super Rugby because it was so cash-strapped.
“It’s a no-win situation, isn’t it,” Castle said. “So you do it (create a position to keep Larkham and his expertise from being lost overseas) and everyone criticises you for letting them go and not having the systems in place. Or you don’t do it and people criticise again.
“We’ve seen other countries around the world where they have managed to keep their coaches in their systems and maximise the learning from those people. It’s not about bureaucracy. It’s about keeping our talent and making sure we can deliver in the long run.”
There was uniform sympathy for Larkham from all four Super Rugby coaches.
“Coming to Australia in the last three years, I’ve got to know Steve and he is a really good guy,” said Reds coach Brad Thorn. “He can be proud of what he has achieved.
“As a player he played 102 Tests and took Australia to the 1999 World Cup win. As a (assistant) coach, he took the Wallabies to a World Cup final. He’s now moved on to a different job but you’ve got to tip your hat to him and say well done.”
Meanwhile, the Brumbies and Waratahs will meet tomorrow in Goulburn for their final hitout before they open their Super Rugby campaign a week later. For respective coaches Dan McKellar and Daryl Gibson it will be a welcome chance to embed key new players into their sides.
In McKellar’s case, he will give Peter Samu his first run in a Brumbies jumper as he and all the club’s other Wallabies — all save props Scott Sio and Allan Alaalatoa and flanker David Pocock — are given the all clear to begin their 2019 campaign.
Coming to Canberra from a Crusaders side that has won the last two Super Rugby titles, Samu has come under scrutiny from outsiders at Brumbies training to see whether he is in a different league in terms of skill from the other players.
“He’s an Australian rugby player who has had the last few years in New Zealand, in the Tasman program that was good and then in a Crusaders program that was good. It’s not like the under 10s and he’s the standout kid.
“He slots in and now understands that he’s in a good program surrounded by good players.”
That said, McKellar can see no reason why Super Rugby should not be like the NRL, where players are able to represent the Warriors while also playing for Queensland and Australia. “I’d certainly be supportive of it and maybe SANZAAR might look at that idea in the future,” he said.
For Gibson, it will be South African import, second-rower Le Roux Roets, who will be under scrutiny as he confronts the Brumbies pack.
“He’s a bit of an unknown quantity to us,” admitted Gibson.
“He’s a big man. We brought him in for a specific purpose to give us that physicality and that hard South African edge.”
Castle contradicting herself- if Larkham is so skilled and has the expertise, yet you’ve sacked him. If he didn’t have the skills for the job in the first place then why put him in charge? Essentially it seems Cheiks has all the power at RA or it effectively keeps him from splilling the beans when he goes.
Do they actually think anyone believes what they’re saying?
It's pleasing to see that some in the East have finally arrived to the same place as most of us in the West.
The answer to Wayne Smith's final question is clearly a resounding "NO".
It’s all a complete and utter shambles. Looking forward to hearing what Marinos has managed to conjure up as a broadcast deal for superrugby beyond 2020.
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