ONE USES HIS analytical mind to methodically break down his opponents’ weaknesses. The other likes to motivate his players by showing them newspapers clips writing them off.
That doesn’t mean that Joe Schmidt and Michael Cheika don’t swap roles on occasions — obviously Cheika analyses opponents and Schmidt has his motivational tools — but their M.O’s as coaches are well established and known as countless players who have played under both have compared and contrasted their styles.
Cheika is the favourite to take over from Ewen McKenzie as Australia coach and that would bring him head-to-head with Schmidt at the Aviva Stadium on 22 November when Ireland take on Australia.
It would make for an interesting sub-plot to see the coach who helped Leinster reach the summit of European rugby take on his replacement, who achieved the same thing, only twice and in a more glorious fashion.
They both achieved great success with Leinster, but went about it in different ways and get different degrees of credit as a result.
The general consensus among Leinster players seems to be something along the lines of ‘Cheika helped us realise our potential and Schmidt helped us exceed it’. When Cheika first arrived at Leinster, there was a perception that the province had talented backs but soft forwards.
This was one time where perception and reality were the same thing – the pack that was devoured whole by Munster in the 2006 Heineken Cup semi-final contained the likes of Brian Blaney, Bryce Williams and Cameron Jowitt; players who, if not soft, certainly didn’t have either the talent or the aggression to really trouble a top pack.
When Cheika finally got his hands on young forwards like Cian Healy, Sean O’Brien and Kevin McLaughlin he was able to form a cohesive unit that could compete with the best in Europe.
Motivating his players is a big thing in Cheika’s arsenal. As Kevin McLaughlin says, Leinster haven’t had material ‘pinned up’ on the dressing room wall since the Australian departed. Cheika was always able to push the button of ‘people think you guys are soft’ and he liked to get in the players faces in order to get them in the right frame of mind.
Bernard Jackman’s book is full of examples of a rage-filled Cheika trying to get the best out of his players.
That is not how Joe Schmidt operates. By the time he arrived from Clermont to replace Cheika, the Australian’s work was done. The pack wasn’t soft anymore, and if you had thrust your hand in their faces and told them that, you probably would have lost a digit.
Schmidt inherited a physically confident and self-motivated team that didn’t always require hair-raising speeches to blow opponents away and he used his gift to get them playing a brand of rugby that had rarely been seen in Europe.
The biggest motivational tool at Schmidt’s disposal is the thought of the Monday morning review session where he painstakingly analyses every mistake made on the big screen.
“We pride ourselves in not needing to psyche ourselves up for big games. Any motivational tricks are a little futile because you don’t need any extra motivation for those games.”
That is Leinster flanker McLaughlin again, who was given his provincial debut by Cheika. That insight signals the sort of change that Schmidt brought in. He evolved the mindset of the players to the extent that they are now mostly self-motivated, unless someone like Wasps’ Nathan Hughes gives you a few gems like these.
The Schmidt-era of Leinster has almost engulfed Cheika’s role in Leinster’s first Heineken Cup win, and the main reason for that is because, rightly or wrongly, the players think Schmidt got more out of them.
Leinster’s backs all say that he improved them immeasurably. Jonathan Sexton has a well-know bromantic relationship with the Irish coach because of what he did for his game and speaking on BT recently, Brian O’Driscoll said one regret he has about retiring is ‘not being part of a Joe Schmidt World Cup squad’.
O’Driscoll famously said he learned ‘nothing’ in the year Declan Kidney coached Leinster, and while he doesn’t say that of Cheika, he rarely praises the Australian in the effusive manner he uses when speaking of Schmidt.
Not everyone can be Joe Schmidt, but his predecessor at Leinster has done a pretty good job at just being Michael Cheika.
After a disappointing spell at Stade Francais, Cheika rediscovered himself at the Waratahs. He succeeded in part because he came into a similar situation to the one he had at Leinster, a team with exciting backs but with a pack whose testicular fortitude had been questioned.
The Waratahs win over the Crusaders in the Super Rugby final last summer was his Leinster vs Munster in 2009 moment, with his forward unit outplaying Kieran Read, Richie McCaw and company.
From Schmidt’s perspective, a win against Australia was already hugely important from a development standpoint, but the game has a lot more intrigue if Cheika is in charge of the visitors.
The Australian situation actually suits Cheika; once again he could be at the helm of a team who are very close to making a leap forward. Anyone who saw Australia come within ten seconds of beating the All Blacks will agree that there is a lot of talent in the side.
Schmidt’s Ireland arguably gave their most disappointing performance of his tenure against Australia last year, so he will be keen to right that wrong this time around.
With so many injuries to deal with, as well as a couple of selection issues *cough* 13 *cough*, Schmidt will have plenty on his mind when the autumn tests start next month.
But a potential Schmidt vs Cheika coaching battle would be brilliant, and no doubt Cheika bristles at the fact that Schmidt gets such unanimous praise from the Leinster players while his role in their progression almost gets glossed over.
Cheika will want to prove that he had as much to do with Leinster’s success as Schmidt did, and one way to do that would be by making his mark in November. The ball is in your court, Cheiks.
