Rugby rage: Michael Cheika furious as Wallabies suffer record loss to England
Australia boss angered by ref’s calls and taunting from rival supporters
He raged, he swore, he sarcastically applauded the match officials. He even became entangled in a verbal spat with an England fan.
If it was hard to take your eyes off the England-Australia rugby test at Twickenham on Saturday, the same could be said about Wallabies coach Michael Cheika’s all-action performance up in the stands.
Instead, Cheika took centre-stage.
Never one to hide his emotions, Cheika unleashed a full array of them during a game in which Australia failed to get the rub of the green when it came to refereeing and TMO decisions and lost by a record 30-6.
“At the end of the day, that’s my own way of dealing with stuff,” Cheika said. “I like to get it out and get on with it. I’ve been able to do it and manage it. That’s my way.”
He was angry when the same player was sin-binned following a collapsed maul on Australia’s line toward the end of the first half, with broadcasters picking up Cheika saying an expletive and then “cheats.”
Moments after the half-time whistle sounded and with his team having just been reduced to 13 players following a yellow card to Kurtley Beale, Cheika – “steaming” in his words – headed down to the steps toward pitchside to get some messages across to his team and responded to apparent verbal abuse from some spectators.
With England benefiting from two more marginal TMO calls in the second half, Cheika was seen with his head in his hands as the game slipped away. He later cut short a TV interview after being asked about being seen calling someone a cheat.
The Wallabies coach said he would not be speaking to World Rugby about the performance of the officials he was clearly so unhappy with.
“No, there’s no point,” he said. “Everybody watched it. No point ... just deal with what we can deal with. If you have to go and make submissions about that kind of stuff, there’s no point going.”
“I didn’t throw a pen today, I didn’t swear – I thought I would even up that with the other box,” Jones said, referring to Cheika’s antics. “My mother will be pleased, I don’t expect a phone call at 5 o’clock in the morning.”
Cheika’s mood will not have improved with the news that lock Adam Coleman and flanker Ned Hanigan are on their way home from Australia’s end-of-year European tour because of injuries.
Coleman failed a late fitness test on a thumb injury sustained in the 29-21 win over Wales last weekend, while Hanigan hurt his eye against England. Neither will recover in time to play in the Wallabies’ final tour match, against Scotland at Murrayfield.