Ruck'n Maul
Michael Cheika rules ARU roost
Greg Growden
March 6, 2015
Catch up with all the latest rugby news and rumours in Ruck'n Maul

Australian Rugby is certainly in the hands of Michael Cheika. The Wallabies coach's ability to get his own way at the Australian Rugby Union has been reinforced yet again by his being allowed to appoint one of his closest friends, Pat Molihan, as the team manager.

Molihan was for many years a television rugby league reporter with Channel Seven in Sydney; he has known Cheika since schooldays, and he has been for some time one of Cheika's main advisers. Molihan's appointment to the Wallabies staff ranks was bound to surprise, and it appears to have even astounded some big wigs at the ARU. Ruck'n Maul has been told by Wallabies team sources that a high-ranking ARU official realised only recently that Molihan was in the Waratahs coaches box during last year's Super Rugby final, and has in recent days accused Cheika of "favouring friends". We hear Cheika's response was unprintable, but did it really include a reference to Shore School and Sydney University? You just know who is going to win that battle.

And one more name to the list of prospective Tahs coaches

The candidates list for the Waratahs coaching position looks as if it is about to get longer. Daryl Gibson, Brian Smith, Nick Stiles and Andrew Blades have been mentioned as possibilities to take over from Cheika next year, but a NSW powerbroker is pushing strongly for the Waratahs to sound out another notable name. His identity will surprise. Let's just say he is a Wallabies name with good overseas coaching credentials, is intimate with the goings on at the ARU, comprehends what is required during a World Cup campaign, and has very strong cricketing links. Getting warmer?

Di Patston case has officials and players nervous

Super Rugby Preview: Round 4
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Several Wallabies and ARU officials are understandably nervous over the discrimination claim brought by former Wallabies business manager Di Patston. The ARU's application to have the claim permanently stayed was recently rejected in the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane. The matter is next heard on June 2. Patston, who resigned from the ARU last October, took legal action against her former employees following the Kurtley Beale text messaging scandal that divided the Wallabies ranks last year. If the parties cannot settle out of court and the matter goes ahead, Ruck'n Maul has been told that up to five players and a high-ranking ARU official could be forced to explain themselves. It is bound to be embarrassing.

The Wallabies are going Roman

The perfect home base has been a key to Wallabies Rugby World Cup successes: in 1991, they relished being based in Dublin during the finals stages, revelling in its relaxed, party atmosphere; so, too, in 1999, when the Wallabies spent ample time just out of Dublin at Portmarnock on a golf resort. This time around, after having a lead-up match against the United States, probably in Chicago, the team will use the picturesque UK city of Bath as its home base in the early weeks of the tournament before moving from city to city for various pool and hopefully finals matches. Bath, a spa city, is renowned for its Roman baths.

The United States is somewhat novel as a rugby destination for Australian teams, but it is not new for the Wallabies. Australia toured there in 1912 - playing a Test in Berkeley, which they almost lost - and overall had a merry old time. Five-eighth Bob Adamson later admitted: "We were never in bed. That was the trouble. I never had such a time in all my life." The San Francisco Examiner wrote: "'Late to bed and early to rise' was the motto of the Australian rugby players." Just a warning.

The Wallabies look set to replicate the All Blacks' USA visit to Chicago © Getty Images
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Saint-Andre takes fruit to new levels

With Cheika in charge of the Wallabies, you can expect some pretty fruity pre-match and post-match comments. But this feisty character will have to be really on his game if he is going to beat what could turn out to be the best coaching sledge of a team for 2015, after emotional France coach Philippe Saint-Andre unloaded on his team when they lost to Wales on the weekend. Saint-Andre appeared close to tears when he complained how badly his team had let him down.

"International rugby is about combat, humility," Saint-Andre said. "But above all it's a collective sport. We don't need starlets. In rugby, the team is the star and we need champions. Yesterday, I didn't see any champions, or not many. I only want players who are ready to go to the end of the world. If anyone thinks that international rugby is too difficult, then they have my telephone number. They can call me, and I'll take someone else. We're the Father Christmas of international rugby, and that's what I told the players."

These comments will take some beating.

Nasi Manu interview was worth watching

We have repeatedly questioned the value of players being interviewed at half-time in Super Rugby matches. The responses are usually gibberish. But one worth watching came during the Highlanders-Reds break in Dunedin. Nasi Manu was asked a series of questions, but he was so exhausted, so out of breath, that he struggled to even splutter one word. If there is anyone out there who could understand anything Manu said, please get in contact. We would love to know. Subtitles were required.

Once bitten …

An update on our list of bizarre injuries, which we ran last week. John Bain wrote in to remind us of the time a well-known former Waratahs official withdrew from a match during his first-grade club days due to a funnel web spider bite.

Whispers of the Week

- Murmurs of yet another lucrative European offer for Kurtley Beale, this time from one of the more successful England clubs.

- Two Australian Super Rugby players very nervous about the threat of their off-field activities getting themselves into enormous trouble. Their franchise is hovering.

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