Wallabies’ WCup hopes bared by Super Rugby routs
Print Edition
MICHAEL Cheika has an extra week to prepare the Wallabies for their tilt at a third World Cup title after both Australia’s Super Rugby semifinalists were dumped out of the competition at the weekend.
Given the thrashings handed out to the ACT Brumbies and New South Wales Waratahs, Cheika might prefer to have an extra year.
Any doubts about the scale of Australia’s task in England were torpedoed on Saturday as the All Blacks-laden Hurricanes hammered the Brumbies before Cheika’s Waratahs wilted against the Otago Highlanders.
Cheika’s last match in charge of the Sydney team ended with a stinging 17-35 loss on home soil, as the Highlanders finally killed off a title defense that never appeared on solid ground.
In the Hurricanes game in Wellington, the final 29-9 score flattered a Brumbies side who were overwhelmed by their opponents’ blitzkrieg offense.
Though the all-New Zealand final will disrupt the All Blacks’ preparations for their first World Cup warmup match against Samoa next month, Cheika is unlikely to take any comfort.
The gap between New Zealand and Australia’s finest has rarely appeared greater, with the capped Wallabies in both semifinals largely overshadowed by their All Blacks opponents.
Though his Waratahs’ tenure ended in disappointment, Cheika, 48, may feel a measure of relief. He no longer has to keep tabs on the progress of Wallabies’ hopefuls in other Super Rugby teams while also plotting against them on the field.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes will host the final for the first time, vying for their first Super title with the Highlanders.
The Highlanders’ only previous final in the tournament’s 19-year history was in 1999, a home loss to the Canterbury Crusaders. Wellington made it in 2006, when it also lost to Canterbury in what was the last all-New Zealand final.
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