Master motivator Michael Cheika admits he’ll need all his wile and guile to make a success of the Wallabies’ whirlwind European adventure.
The Wallabies depart for the five-game tour on Friday, with the ARU having only installed Cheika as coach little more than 48 hours earlier.
Such was the mad scramble to secure his services after Saturday’s shock resignation of Ewen McKenzie that Cheika confessed to having minimal impact on the make-up of the 33-strong touring squad.
“I don’t think I could come in and pick and team. You have to show confidence in the people that have been doing the job here previously,” Cheika said.
“So you’ve got to believe in that selection and go and run with it.”
The Wallabies open their five-week campaign against the Barbarians at Twickenham on November 1 before tackling Wales, France, Ireland and England in Tests on four successive Saturdays.
It is a gruelling introduction to the Test scene for the title-winning Super Rugby mentor.
“It’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t even sure where they were going,” Cheika said.
The squad contains five Test rookies, including bolters Sean McMahon from the Melbourne Rebels and Western Force prop Tetera Faulkner.
Cheika said the tour would be more about learning how the Wallabies tick and establishing a fresh culture than overhauling the playing style.
“It’s a relatively simple process. We’re not going to change too much obviously,” he said.
“We’re going to try and talk about a few things around getting our environment right. We’re going to focus on quality while we’re over there.
“I’m going to get to know the players. Obviously I know a lot of the Waratahs players, but I’ve got to spend some time with the players from the other teams to get to know who they are, what they’re good at, what they believe they’re good at and try to maximise the potential out of every player.
“We’re not going to be making massive changes in the way that we’ll play the game, not in this short period of time.
“Once I see how they’re actually playing and I understand that before the next series, which will be next year in the Rugby Championship, we can start making some changes in the lead-up to that.”
Given the tumults of the past month, namely the dramatic departures of McKenzie and former Wallabies business manager Di Patston in the bitter aftermath of the Kurtley Beale texting scandal and three straight losses, Cheika has identified returning the Wallabies to the “right mental space” as a priority.
“(With) clarity about how we’re going to play the game, we can play some really good rugby,” he said.
“Good running play, smart footy, making good decisions all the time.
“I think there’s been hints of it ever since Ewen took charge. It’s more about consistency.
“I don’t think it’s a rescue job.”
While McKenzie has trimmed his coaching staff from four to three with the removal of Jim McKay and Nick Scrivener and the appointment of his Waratahs ally Nathan Grey for the tour, ARU general manager of pathways and performance Ben Whitaker will travel as an interim Wallabies manager.
SPRING TOUR SCHEDULE
Nov 1: Wallabies v Barbarians, Twickenham Stadium, London
Nov 8: Wallabies v Wales, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Nov 15: Wallabies v France, Stade de France, Paris
Nov 22: Wallabies v Ireland, AVIVA Stadium, Dublin
Nov 29: Wallabies v England, Twickenham Stadium, London
WALLABIES SQUAD
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Ben Alexander, Sam Carter, Quade Cooper, Tom English, Saia Fainga’a, Tetera Faulkner, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Kyle Godwin, James Hanson, Scott Higginbotham, Matt Hodgson, Michael Hooper (capt), Rob Horne, James Horwill, Luke Jones, Sekope Kepu, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Leali’ifano, Josh Mann-Rea, Ben McCalman, Sean McMahon, Nick Phipps, Benn Robinson, Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, James Slipper, Henry Speight, Joe Tomane, Matt Toomua, Nic White.
