The Australia team to take part in the World Cup final on Saturday has been transformed from a wild bunch into a chorus of angels with bruised faces.
Coach Michael Cheika took control one year ago of a squad whose off-pitch reputation had hit rock bottom and seen embattled coach Ewen McKenzie hand in his ‘sheriff’s’ badge.
McKenzie’s reign was badly damaged by a spat over a lewd text messages sent by Kurtley Beale to team business manager Di Patston.
In November 2013 he had publicly punished 11 of the squad — including present members Bernard Foley, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Nick Phipps and Scott Fardy — for consuming “inappropriate levels of alcohol” on a night out in Dublin.
Since Cheika strode into the Wild West that was the Wallaby camp, there has not been a peep of trouble. A repentant Beale has been restored to the squad.
The bruises present after they beat Argentina on Sunday were all acquired on the pitch.
Wallaby veteran scrum-half Will Genia agreed that Cheika had calmed down the wild bunch.
“I guess so as there haven’t been any issues,” said the 27-year-old, who says he is treating the World Cup final as his last Test as he joins French champions Stade Francais after.
“He (Cheika) is a genuine and honest guy and tells it how it is and what he expects of you as individuals and as Wallabies.
“Those things (the excesses) obviously aren’t acceptable and it is amazing the bind that his attitude has had on this team.”
Genia, who has formed a formidable partnership with fly-half Foley, says it is easy to fall into line with Cheika because of the example he sets.
– Straight instructions –
“He’s a guy that if he wants the team to do something he does it himself,” said Genia.
“He’s the sort of person who will be straight with you if you’re doing the thing right and if you’re not doing that thing right he will also be straight with you.”
Cheika takes great pleasure out of the disparate elements within his 31 man squad.
“We’ve got a team of people who have come from different origins as well as different characters. We have jokers, the lovers, the fighters,” said Cheika without singling out any individual.
Several have considerable character honed from different experiences and backgrounds which has formed a strong backbone to the team.
This helped in their narrow scrapes: in their final Pool A game against Wales they won 15-6 even though they were down to 13 men at one point. They beat Scotland 35-34 in the quarter-finals with a last minute penalty by Foley. Argentina were beaten 29-15 in the semi-final, but the result was in the balance until late on.
Three of the Dublin ’11’ reflect this changed culture and now make headlines for the right reasons.
Fardy, who Cheika remarked has had to grow a beard to get noticed against fellow backrowers David Pocock and Michael Hooper, gets asked about how he refused an offer to leave Japan after the tsunami disaster of 2011. Ashley-Cooper helped a dying friend’s wish come true by getting to see Australia beat Wales and Phipps has studied for a business degree for up to hours a day at the tournament.
Zimbabwe-born No 8 David Pocock speaks out for gay rights and says he will only marry his girlfriend once gay marriage is passed into law in Australia. He was arrested last November at a climate change protest when he attached himself to a digger.
“I’ve got to know him (Pocock) a bit better now and he is a really interesting character away from the game,” said Cheika.
For Wallaby skipper Stephen Moore the wild fellows have become angels because Cheika has moulded them into one firm unit.
“I think the biggest difference since he arrived is probably getting everybody on the same page and getting everyone aligned in the same way with regards to what we stand for, who we are playing for and who we are representing,” Moore told AFP.
“He has succeeded in bringing players closer together from different teams across Australia and creating special bonds.
“We have become a very tight knit group.”