RA wants Schmidt as Wallabies coach beyond Lions but that's no guarantee
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RA wants Schmidt as Wallabies coach beyond Lions but that’s no guarantee by StuffsEarth

Rugby Australia won’t want to consider life after Joe Schmidt just yet but there’s every possibility the New Zealander won’t be with the Wallabies this time next year – and one former coach is once again reminding his old employers he’s worth resuming dialogue with as the national team prepares for their November Tests.

Schmidt, 59, is signed through until the end of the Lions series next August after coming out of international retirement, again, to accept an SOS from RA director of rugby Peter Horne to take over from Eddie Jones earlier this year.

Although RA is hopeful he’ll stay on, informed sources believe he’s more likely to call time on his short-term deal than stay on through to the World Cup.

He might not be the only one either, with Mike Cron – the world renowned ‘scrum doctor’, who spent more than 200 Tests with the All Blacks – another, who could join him.

Schmidt is keeping his cards close to his chest, but RA is hoping by the end of the year they will have a clearer picture of the experienced coach’s plans so they can make an informed decision on who should lead the Wallabies through to the home World Cup in 2027.

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is only signed through until next year’s Lions series. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Fortunately, RA have a security net at home after wisely luring back Les Kiss, Dan McKellar and Stephen Larkham from abroad over the past 24 months to give them three candidates currently within the Super Rugby pathway to choose from.

Kiss is the early favourite unless McKellar can transform the Waratahs from chumps into champs.

But a fourth candidate, Michael Cheika, shouldn’t be ruled out.

In less than two months, Cheika has once again shown his coaching pedigree after leading Leicester Tigers back up the English Premiership standings.

In doing so, he’s delivered the good, bad and ugly – three things that have breathed life back into English rugby at a time when the Premiership needs headlines and storylines.

It’s also what Australian rugby needs as the game fights for relevance without success banging door the down.

McKellar wasn’t necessarily found out during his time at the Tigers, but the rising Australian coach discovered how different coaching is away from Super Rugby.

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Dan McKellar time at Welford Road ended after just one season. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Where Super Rugby is a sprint, the England Premiership is a slog where the best players come in and out of the squad because of international commitments regularly.

It means player management is an entirely different beast.

Cheika – one of the most experienced coaches in the world, who last year took Argentina to the World Cup semi-final – has come in and done what he does best at Welford Road.

The Tigers, having finished a disappointing eighth last season in McKellar’s only campaign after a series of near misses, are five wins from six matches and a point off first place.

Last weekend’s win at Saracens – the most successful English club of the past decade – was their first away in six years.

It’s followed impressive victories over last year’s champions Northampton at home and an early win at Sandy Park over Exeter.

Curiously, Cheika’s only signed a one-year deal with the Tigers, leaving the door ajar open for a return to Australia if RA CEO Phil Waugh and Horne come knocking.

Michael Cheika, Head Coach of Argentina, poses for a portrait during the Argentina Rugby World Cup 2023 Squad photocall on September 01, 2023 in Nantes, France. (Photo by Michael Regan - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
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Michael Cheika signed a one-year deal with Leicester Tigers. (Photo by Michael Regan – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

Whether that occurs remains to be seen, but Waugh should be getting on the blower to at least open dialogue with the former Wallabies coach when he’s in the United Kingdom over the next few weeks for the nation’s end of year Tests.

Cheika is everything Waugh doesn’t want at present. But it’s something he should swallow.

Waugh wants a coach who is reliable, dependable and controllable. It’s why he would want Schmidt to steadily build through the November Tests and, ultimately, to re-sign through to the 2027 home World Cup.

Cheika, on the other hand, is his own man and runs the team like it’s his own family. He doesn’t mind cracking an egg or two along the way either.

Although the former Randwick back-rower has mellowed somewhat in recent years, some at RA, especially following the madness that followed Eddie Jones’ World Cup campaign, are still scared by how he finished his tenure with the Wallabies in 2019.

Waugh was on the RA board when Cheika’s relationship sourced with Raelene Castle to the point of no return at the end of 2018. By the 2019 World Cup, their distain was playing out in front of guests at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo.

What they fail to remember is that Cheika had nothing to do with the mess the governing body created when they pitted the Melbourne Rebels against the Western Force for survival.

Nor did he have any control over Israel Folau’s social media posts that split the playing group in half and denied Cheika his rock at the back that could turn rubble into gold.

RA CEO Phil Waugh speaks to media during a Rugby Australia media opportunity at Allianz Stadium on January 19, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
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RA CEO Phil Waugh speaks to media after unveiling Joe Schmidt (L) as the Wallabies coach on January 19, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Since the Wallabies’ quarter-final exit in 2019, Cheika’s reputation has been built back up after leading Argentina to the semi-finals four years after they failed to get out of the pool stages.

Along the way, Cheika’s Pumas secured historic wins over the All Blacks in New Zealand and England in London.

What Cheika has over the three other homegrown coaches is runs on the board at World Cups.

Kiss was an assistant with Ireland at two World Cups in 2011 and 2015, while Larkham was Cheika’s assistant at the 2015 campaign when the Wallabies made the final. McKellar, meanwhile, has yet to coach at a World Cup.

But what all three coaches don’t have that Cheika does is international coaching experience nor silverware to show off either.

With the next World Cup the biggest and most important rugby event on Australian shores in history, it’s a factor worth considering.

It’s why Cheika shouldn’t have a line put through his name and why next year’s Super Rugby Pacific season will be compelling – because the current crop of coaches in Australia need to win.

They won’t get a better chance either given the one-off salary cap exception in 2025 following the Melbourne Rebels’ demise.

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