Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says that he is still confident in Australia’s playing depth for the Wallabies ahead of the June Internationals against England.
Australian Super Rugby teams are not having their best season this year and only the Rebels are in the play off places.
If the season ended today the Rebels would host a play off under the conference system. Without the conference system the Rebels would just sneak into the play offs as the last placed team.
Cheika however says that he is not buying into the negativity around Australian rugby struggling.
“Like any season, I’m not going to say it’s all going swimmingly and we’d like to have a few more wins as a nation as a whole, for sure, but I don’t see (the negativity),” said Cheika on the Rugby site.
“I’ve been involved in teams that have gone on runs and their position at the midway or halfway through the year doesn’t even look like what it finishes up with.
“Sometimes when you lose that’s part of the game.”
“You’ve got to lose and go, ‘I’m ready for the next one, bring it on, let’s play’. People might consider me naive, I don’t know if that’s the attitude, but for me that’s the oldest school value of rugby.
The Brumbies were one of the favourites to win the Super Rugby title but they are now struggling after two heavy losses to New Zealand teams but Cheika says he still believes individual team losses won’t sway him from believing in the Wallabies.
“A couple of losses (are) not going to sway me from believing in the team,” he said.
“The position on the table counts at the end for those teams and the form of those players will also decide what they do going forward.
“There’s always another game the next week to show what they’ve got.”
Instead of looking at the team’s performances in Super Rugby Cheika is more concerned about individuals and the combinations that he will field against the Six Nations champions England.
“I suppose for me more particularly, it’s just looking at individual player form and trying to get my head around who are going to be the best combinations to pick, “he said.
“Who’s’ playing well, who are the players to give opportunities to that I think will add something to the team and also prepare for what i think in that first week we come together at the end of May …how the training should look.
“(It’ll be about) where they’re at, where the lads are at physically and we’re not going to change too much about the way we play, it’s not going to be a whole heap different.”
