Australia won’t rule out luring ex-head coach back to lead the Wallabies
Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh refused to rule out the possibility of Michael Cheika returning to the Wallabies set-up.
The Wallabies head coach role is still vacant following Eddie Jones’ resignation after a disastrous year for Australian rugby.
Jones oversaw the Wallabies‘ worst-ever Rugby World Cup campaign, failing to progress from the pool stages of the tournament for the first time. He has since been unveiled as Japan’s new head coach, a role he reportedly interviewed for on the Eve of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Cheika is stepping down from his role as Argentina’s head coach and will be replaced by his assistant and former Los Pumas international Felipe Contepomi.
Cheika returning?
Chieka took charge of Argentina following the departure of Mario Ledesma in 2022 and guided the side to their first win over the All Blacks in New Zealand and the Wallabies in Australia and England at Twickenham. Argentina reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, falling to the All Blacks in the final and finishing the tournament in fifth place.
The 56-year-old led the Wallabies between 2014 and 2019, taking charge of the side through two World Cups, reaching the final in 2015.
With the experienced coach now on the market and the Wallabies searching for Jones’ successor, the obvious links were always going to be made and Waugh says anything is possible.
“Everyone’s in the hunt, to be fair,” Waugh told AAP when asked if Cheika could be in contention.
“We haven’t gone to market with it yet. We’re hoping to announce our high-performance director this week and then get in the process of going to market for a head coach.
“We’re certainly not advanced in conversations, or in any conversations with anyone really.”
Shake-up at Rugby Australia
Multiple reports in Australia in recent months suggest that Peter Horne is set to take on the role of high-performance director at Rugby Australia.
Harlequin’s director of rugby, Billy Millard, was reportedly in the running for the role as well, but Horne has edged him out for the job.
In fact, World Rugby have already announced Horne’s replacement with ex-Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui assuming the role.
Pressed again on whether or not Cheika could be someone Rugby Australia are interested in recruiting for a coaching role, Waugh said: “We’re interested in anyone, to be honest, but we just need to go through the process.”
Since Jones’ resignation, several names have been linked with the Wallabies’ top job, including the likes of Ian Foster, Joe Schmidt, Dan McKellar and even Ronan O’Gara.
READ MORE:?‘Hurt’ Wallabies star keen to ‘forget about’ Eddie Jones after World Cup disaster