Sydney — Wallabies legend Matt Burke has urged Rugby Australia to axe Michael Cheika and his coaching staff after a review was announced less than a year before the World Cup. Rugby Australia has promised a decision “ahead of Christmas”. The two-time world champions have won just four Tests in 2018 and slipped to sixth in the world rankings, heaping pressure on Cheika as a sense of turmoil engulfs the national side. Burke said the Wallabies needed change “from the top down”, calling for Cheika and his assistants, Stephen Larkham and Nathan Grey, to go. “Cheika has to go” Burke, who played 81 Tests for Australia and was a World Cup winner in 1999, told Big Sports Breakfast radio. “There has to be a change. I don’t think just getting rid of the assistant coaches will be enough,” he added. Despite club success at Leinster and the NSW Waratahs, Cheika has struggled to stamp his authority on a Wallabies side that is replete with world-class players but has consistently underperformed of ...
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