Michael Cheika admits Australia have been forced to overhaul aging squad
Thursday 6 October 2016 17:59, UK
Australia head coach Michael Cheika has admitted the Wallabies’ poor run of recent form has forced the coaching staff to overhaul the squad.
Since their impressive run to the World Cup final in 2015, where they lost 34-17 to New Zealand at Twickenham, Australia have lost six of their eight Tests under Cheika.
The Wallabies suffered the humiliation of a 3-0 series whitewash by England on home soil in the summer and have managed just two wins from their five Rugby Championship games so far this season.
Only seven of the starting 15 from that World Cup final - Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu and Michael Hooper - will start Australia's final Rugby Championship match of the season against Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday.
Cheika accepts that is a drastic overhaul of a team that was viewed as the second best in world rugby less than 12 months ago but says it is what the Wallabies must do if they are to close the gap on their rivals.
"I think it's pretty clear we're going through a generational change," Cheika said. "We understand that our challenge in Australian rugby is to build more depth and we're going to do that.
"But we're not going to cry about it, talking about losing players overseas. We won't whinge about a lack of depth - we'll go out and make that depth instead.
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"That said, winning matches is still what it's all about. No one cares about second - I can't remember who was in the World Cup final; I only remember that New Zealand won it.
"I really believe this is the way to go, it's the right thing to do, I don't know if takes guts or not, it's just what we've got to do."
Australia's defence was badly exposed by Eddie Jones' England in June as they conceded a total of 106 points combined in their three Test defeats.
But they have improved in that category in recent games, conceding a combined total of 47 points in their last three Tests against South Africa (twice) and Argentina.
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Cheika is confident his side are now turning the corner and is proud of how his team have dealt with the flood of recent criticism which has come their way.
"Against England we had two games where we scored more tries than them and still lost," Cheika said.
"We were outplayed in the two games against New Zealand, but aside from that we could have won the others.
"I'm not looking to say that's any excuse for losing games, it's not. But we've solved our defensive issues, so we're getting there.
"We've had a lot of heat thrown our way in different directions and we've dealt with that, so I'm proud of the lads."
