The next coach of the Wallabies will have, judging by the results of five years with Michael Cheika at the helm, average sized boots to fill.
No indictment of Cheika. He had an impossible task and it is highly doubtful that his successor can take the playing group from which the Wallabies draw and make a stunning turnaround.
Cheika may be gone, but he apparently desires not to be forgotten, as he expressed skepticism at the prospect of Rugby Australia hiring a Kiwi coach.
Tell you what; swap Cheika for Steve Hansen, and let Cheika helm the All Blacks and Hansen the Wallabies.
Cheika will be an instant genius and Hansen will be the new Australian villain.
The larger problem confronting Rugby Australia is that the players can make far more money playing abroad, but then when it comes time to play international representative football, RA imposes draconian restrictions on players who have found greener fields in the northern hemisphere.
The dust has barely settled and it is doubtful that Cheika has even had the time to de-friend Raelene Castle and Scott Johnson on social media, yet he is lobbying for anything other than a New Zealander for the next coach.
Word to Cheika: You are fired mate. True, you stepped down before the guillotine could drop, but you are nonetheless out of power.
Thank you for your service.
Next.
Why anyone would want the job simply proves that there are blokes and possibly (although most improbable), bloke-ettes, who enjoy the masochistic punishment that is part of the job description of the Wallabies coach.
World Rugby ranks Australia No. 6.
That is lofty country for the world’s largest island, or smallest continent, whichever is accurate.
It surely rankles that New Zealand, with something like one-sixth the population of Australia, consistently holds the top spot and is laying waste to every country in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, with the possible exception of South Africa.
The population disparity, however, simply indicates that there is six times more untapped potential waiting to be discovered.