Wednesday 22 October 2014 13:11, UK
Michael Cheika has been appointed as Australia’s new coach on a three-year contract.
Cheika takes over from Ewen McKenzie, who resigned on Saturday after the defeat to New Zealand and in the wake of the Kurtley Beale texting saga.
Cheika’s record of the coach is impressive – he is the only man to guide teams to the Heineken Cup and the Super Rugby titles, having won in Europe with Leinster in 2009 and in the southern hemisphere this year with NSW Waratahs.
"Central to our decision was selecting a world-class coach who can lead us to victory in next year's Rugby World Cup," said ARU chief executive Bill Pulver.
“He the only coach in history to coach both a European Cup-winning side and a Super Rugby-winning side.”
I am going to have to work hard and learn quickly but I am up for the challenge. I'll be doing my best, that's the only thing I can guarantee.
Cheika said: "I am going to have to work hard and learn quickly but I am up for the challenge. I'll be doing my best, that's the only thing I can guarantee.”
The Wallabies also announced their squad for their forthcoming European tour, though it is not clear how much input Cheika had in its selection.
There are five uncapped players in the tour party, though only one real surprise is 20-year-old Melbourne Rebels flanker Sean McMahon.
The other uncapped players - wingers Tom English (Rebels) and Henry Speight (ACT Brumbies), Western Force centre Kyle Godwin and his club team-mate and prop Tetera Faulkner - were all in McKenzie's final squad before he sensationally quit on Saturday.
Fijian-born Speight, who only qualified for Australia on residency grounds in September, would almost certainly have won his first cap by now but for a hamstring injury.
Blindside flanker Scott Fardy has been ruled out of the tour after undergoing surgery on a long-standing knee problem but there was good news for Ben McCalman who was passed fit to travel.
The Western Force No 8 was expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the year by a shoulder injury he sustained against the Springboks last month.
Matt Toomua, who played at inside centre for much of the Rugby Championship, also returned to the squad after recovering from a concussion.
Last weekend's 29-28 reverse to New Zealand in Brisbane was a third defeat in a row for the Wallabies after defeats on the road in South Africa and Argentina in the last two rounds of the Rugby Championship.
Cheika will bring former Wallaby Nathan Grey, his defence coach at the New South Wales Waratahs, with him on tour and has retained McKenzie's forwards coach Andrew Blades.
Nick Scrivener and Jim McKay, who looked after defence and attack respectively under McKenzie, have been released.
Australia face the Barbarians at Twickenham on November 1 with Tests against Wales, France, Ireland and England following in successive weeks.
Squad:
Forwards: Scott Higginbotham, Ben McCalman, Michael Hooper (captain), Matt Hodgson, Sean McMahon, Luke Jones, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Sam Carter, Will Skelton, Benn Robinson, Ben Alexander, Sekope Kepu, James Slipper, Tetera Faulkner, Saia Faingaa, James Hanson, Josh Mann-Rea.
Backs: Israel Folau, Rob Horne, Joe Tomane, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tom English, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Leali'ifano, Kyle Godwin, Matt Toomua, Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Nic White, Nick Phipps.
