Last year we brought you 'The Coaches', a series of profiles in which we delved into the backgrounds and philosophies of some of the best coaches going around: Dave Rennie from the Chiefs, the Western Force's Michael Foley, former Brumbies and now Gloucester mentor Laurie Fisher, and now-former Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie.

We return this year with Michael Cheika, the reigning Super Rugby Championship and Wallabies coach.

For the first profile of the year, and with Super Rugby now only days away from resuming, we've focused mainly on Cheika's Super Rugby preparations before finishing on how he plans to juggle his two roles in 2015.

ESPNscrum: The Waratahs went into the pre-season as the reigning Super Rugby champions. Does that make preparations harder or easier?

Michael Cheika: I don't think it's any harder or any easier. You should have a little bit more self-belief in your tank going in, because you have achieved something along the way, but the reality is that we're not really defending anything. Yes, we have the title, but the reality is there's no lead at the start of the season; everyone's on zero. And we're very aware of that.

I've been in this situation before, where I've won a competition with a team, and then going into the next year with them, and I'm going to try and learn from whatever that experience gave me - the mistakes I made, the things I did well - to make sure the team understands there's no defending anything.

We were able to achieve last year, which was fantastic. We earned ourselves a little bit of luck along the way, which we got, and we want to make sure we improve as a team around what we do when we're in the fight again towards the end of this season.

There won't be any sneaking under the radar for the Waratahs in 2015; how do you innovate and stay ahead of the hunting pack?

Michael Cheika: We've got our own ideas around how we can change, but you don't change your core values of your team and what we feel is part of our team identity: to have really good skills, to be physical and really get into the physical contest, to be prepared to really work off the ball and be the hardest working team in that area, and to never give up whenever the game is in the balance. They're the things we've tried to improve on in the two years we've been together at the Waratahs, and nothing's going to change around that stuff.

We might have a few bits and pieces around how we improve our game, and some little new tricks and things, and slightly different strategies, and that's absolutely normal to evolve your game, but the core values of the team aren't going to change whatsoever.

Is it exciting to start the season knowing you're the team everyone - especially the Australian teams - will want to knock off?

Michael Cheika: I know it's not the answer you want, but I don't think it's any more or less exciting. You want to be in the big contests all the time; that's the excitement of playing the game. Personally, I'm excited for every match; whether it was last season or the season before, or now this season again and what it presents.

I don't think we should change our outlook on how we're going about things. We'll just set off at the start of the season to play our game - according to the way our identity tells us we should play for our fans, and how we need to play to be competitive with the other teams, because it's so competitive; it's a day-to-day proposition and how you turn up on the day of the 16 games during the rounds will decide how you go, not everything in between.

After you won the title last season - and before the whole Wallabies landscape changed - did you allow yourself some time to reflect and take some satisfaction out of the point that the game plan you wanted to play was ultimately successful?

Michael Cheika: Oh, of course. You've got to acknowledge when you achieve something good, otherwise you'll always be miserable (laughs). You've got to say, "Yeah, that was great, fantastic", but you've also got to know when to draw the line on it.

I know I drew the line relatively early, and I feel like the team did as well. Many of the players didn't have much chance anyway, because they were straight in with the Wallabies. We had a few days; I genuinely think we had a few days to enjoy that.

And you'd see supporters in the street and they keep telling you how good it was, and all that type of stuff. And that's fantastic; we want them to enjoy it. But for us, we're really clear that those few days we had afterwards to enjoy it were great, but we've got plenty of time after our careers to reflect on what happened during that success.

One of the more fascinating angles of this series has been getting into the coaching backgrounds of the men we've spoken to. So how did a rampaging Randwick No.8 end up coaching in Europe in his first stint?

Michael Cheika: I never imagined I'd be doing any coaching; I had a totally different thing going on in life [Cheika made his fortune in the fashion industry]. And then I was still playing, and 'Campo' [Randwick and Wallabies great David Campese] contacted me and told me his old team in Italy needed a coach [Petrarca Padova], and that he thought I'd be OK at it.

I speak Italian, so I could get into the lingo; there was no problem there. And I thought to myself, you know what, if I'm going to get into this coaching thing, I might as well go and do it on my own away from everyone and see if I actually like it. And then if I enjoy it, I can keep doing it; and if I can't, I'll have a good holiday and come back.

So it wasn't like planning out a career or anything like that; I still don't see it as a career, I see it more as a passion. I'm going to have to get a serious job one day, a proper job - but from there it just grew.

I ended up coming back to Sydney and coached my club team in parallel while I was running my business - because you weren't getting any dough for coaching your club team - and I just tried to do that as best as possible over the three years I was there.

[Randwick won the Shute Shield in 2004, Cheika's last year before heading back to Europe.]

Michael Cheika won the Heineken Cup with Leinster © Getty Images

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From there you coached Leinster in Ireland and Stade Francais in Paris. Was there a point along the way where you started harbouring ambitions to coach the Waratahs - because you didn't play Super 12, did you?

Michael Cheika: No, I played a couple of times for New South Wales on a tour of Europe. 1997, I think. But no, I didn't [have any desire to coach NSW]. I was very happy living overseas, and I think it was just the timing that worked out. When I finished with Stade Francais, I was still over there relaxing and it was good to have a break, and then it all happened here. I don't even think the Waratahs were looking for a coach; there was a sudden change.

[Former coach Michael Foley quit the Waratahs in July 2012 to join the Force, and Cheika was appointed in September 2012.]

And again, just the timing. I was over there and available, so it was a big decision for me to come home and it was a really great move in the end, because I've really enjoyed the time I've had here so far.

The obvious follow-up then is whether in the two years you have coached the Tahs, was the Wallabies job something you ever thought of?

Michael Cheika: No, not at all. Like ... no, never.

It all happened so quickly and you can't say 'No' in those situations; you wouldn't want to. But it's a great opportunity, and even though it was a difficult circumstance, with everything that happened and the short timeframe - no opportunity to plan in advance or anything - you've got to make the best of it, because I think it's a really important time right now for rugby in Australia. And I want to make sure I do the best job I possibly can, and so that we can get as many people back watching and enjoying the game.

I've asked the other coaches in this series about how they assemble their coaching panels - is there anything specifically you look for in a backs coach or a forwards coach?

Michael Cheika: Well, I think that the coaches I like have to have ambition; do you know what I mean? I think they have to be ambitious and invested in being successful. I've always had a Kiwi on my staff somewhere (laughs), but that's because they're very good at footy and it's always good to know what they're thinking about within rugby. And I think they have a very complementary nature in the character of coaching.

So, sometimes it's all about putting the right combination of characters together, as opposed to just finding the best coaches, per se. That's very, very important.

I think we've got to have a really vibrant environment, where we're having fun and enjoying ourselves, putting our points forward, being open to learning new ideas from each other and make sure that out of all the different things everyone's got to say - and even though we coach different 'departments' - that our collective rugby knowledge comes out with the right answer all the time when it comes to the decisions we're making and preparing the game plan.

And you need full and frank discussions, but there's a respect in that if you do disagree, at the end of the day, one guy is the boss and he calls it and everyone then swings in behind that decision. Once you know that everyone's respective intention is exclusively for the good of the team, then there's no bad arguments, only good ones.

Michael Cheika wants "guys learning their craft at training under pressure and fatigue" © Getty Images

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What about what you might be looking for in your Wallabies 'scrum guru' that might be on the horizon; is that a harder task again?

Michael Cheika: I've been putting together the plan at the moment around what will be prioritised in terms of staff and management. I'll be talking to some coaches about different positions, and obviously there is an incumbent in Andrew [Blades]. I'll be speaking with him soon around his ideas, and seeking his plan to make us better in that area.

There ain't no magic solution. It's clear we want to improve in the tighter parts of the game: scrum, lineouts - actually, not so much our lineouts, more about lineout driving. And maybe some of our kicking.

And to do that, there's no magic formula. There's no, "I'll get him, and he'll solve everything". It's about a good plan, hard work, deciding on the right idea and going with it, and getting everyone to buy into that idea.

Would you consider say, an AFL person, to work on your kicking, for example?

Michael Cheika: Um, no, I don't think so. The kicking part, yes there's a technical part and there's a tactical part. Kicking is about putting the kicker and the catcher together, and also the chasers, lots of different things like that that aren't just purely technical. A lot of the guys have their own technical kicking coach, and there might be a kicking coach with the team - he wouldn't be a fulltime guy - but he might be involved with strategy and things like that.

Whoever is involved in those parts of the puzzle [that we're looking to improve], the most important thing is that everyone's really clear that this is how we're playing, and these are the skills we're going to need to play this style of game, because that's what we're going to be doing. And then we just practise them; learn how to do them well. It's all very simple.

Training is the opportunity to really get better; we focus the majority of our reviewing on training and not on matches, because that's the preparation you go through to perform in the game. We have a certain style we like to use in and around training, and the intensity used, and certain rules around what training's about, and we go to it.

I think that guys learning their craft at training under pressure and fatigue, and then being able to see training footage and that exact same thing happening in a game, is a really powerful message.

That's interesting in itself, that you find more benefit in reviewing training and the linkages to how that plays out in games. We don't often hear coaches talking about the need to review training as part of the preparation for a game.

Michael Cheika: That's what it's all about. As a coach, that's all I can influence; I can't influence a game. Once the game starts, the lads are out there, it's all them. We can make a few tweaks here or there, or give a half-time rev-up or make a few changes, but it's all up to them.

All this stuff about sending out messages - I know when I was playing, I didn't listen to one!

The guys are going for oxygen, or water, and they're getting bashed about. You might be able to send a few messages to the key playmakers maybe, but that's not really the time. The time is at training to get the message across, and if you prepare well, you should be successful in the game.

To finish up, we didn't want to ask how you plan to tackle the dual roles, because you've spoken a lot about that publically; rather we I wanted to ask how you plan to handle the additional stress and the public perceptions that you must know are out there?

Michael Cheika: Oh mate, just honesty. So far I've had a really positive dialogue with the Super Rugby coaches, and I think in a certain way they roll with me a bit more because I'm in their shoes right now.

I'm a big believer that you get stuck in, and you get stuck into each other like crazy, and then the next day when we join up, we've got to love each other. That's the true challenge, isn't it, to build a truly unified national team, and understand the clear identity of the national team.

Michael Cheika expects Australia to show improved form in 2015 as he "didn't know two-thirds of the players" on tour in 2014 © Getty Images

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I wouldn't have met many coaches around who want to see the national team go bad; as long as we're respectful of everyone's territory and what they need to do, I think people are prepared to make some sacrifices along the way and make choices that will help the national team.

Now that you've got your first tour under your belt, does the job feel bigger than when you first took it on?

Michael Cheika: Oh, probably, because I didn't know what I was going to encounter on that trip. I'd never even been on a rugby tour that long, you know what I mean? And I didn't know two-thirds of the players.

Now I'm starting to understand the personalities, what's involved, and what I think are the main things to make the Australian team the best team to be a part of in Australian rugby. To make sure the quality is excellent, the organisation is excellent. Not spoilt; not spoilt. Just excellent, and then bringing add-ons to that, because not only does it bring the quality of the team up, it also helps us keep guys [in Australia].

And that's a very current topic, guys leaving. We need guys wanting to play for Australia, and the lustre we put on that team will say to these guys, "right, in the prime of my career, when I'm playing the best rugby I possibly can, I need to be playing at the highest level", which is playing international footy for Australia, and not be thinking about going over to play in a club competition in France, or a club competition in England.

Yes, financially, there's always going to be that conversation, but like I said, I never played for Australia - I'd have given my right arm to play for Australia - and I think that it's up to me and the team we've got running the Wallabies to make sure that it is operating at a level that guys are saying, "this is a great team to be a part of, I'm hungry to get selected, and I want to stay and play at the highest level".

And that's one of the great things that rugby gives you; it gives you the opportunity to play international footy on a regular basis.