Michael Cheika’s time in The Land of the Rising Sun has come to an end, with the respected coach departing from his role at NEC Green Rockets – and, at the same time, adding to speculation he could join Leicester Tigers as Steve Borthwick’s replacement.
The Roar can reveal Cheika and the Japanese League One side parted ways recently, with time management one of the main reasons for the 2015 World Rugby coach of the year’s departure.
It’s believed Cheika, who took over as Argentina coach last year and will lead the Pumas to the World Cup later this year, spent just 36 days at the Japanese club after joining them as their director of rugby. It’s understood his contract required him to spend 180 days at the club.
Not only did Cheika join Los Pumas last year as Mario Ledesma’s replacement, the only head coach to win major titles in the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere also led Lebanon to the Rugby League World Cup and was one of the best additions to the Stan Sports coverage over the past two years.
Michael Cheika has left Japanese League One side NEC Green Rockets. Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
Cheika is one of several renowned coaches to have been brought in by ambitious Japanese clubs, with the former Wallabies coach following in the footsteps of Robbie Deans, Sir Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith.
It’s also believed that Blake Ferguson’s alleged drug-related incident, which saw the former NRL star spend a month behind bars in Japan, was damaging to Cheika’s reputation at the club.
Nonetheless, Cheika has turned Argentina into one of the genuine bolters of this year’s World Cup, with Los Pumas pulling off brilliant victories against the Wallabies, All Blacks and England in 2022.
Cheika has based himself in France over the past year to be closer to the majority of Argentina’s players, who predominately ply their trade in the French Top 14 and English Premiership.
But with Cheika set to only take Los Pumas through to the World Cup before likely handing over the reins to Felipe Contepomi, it’s believed the former NSW and Wallabies coach is the favourite on the short list to take over Borthwick at Leicester.
Could Argentina coach Michael Cheika (L) link up with Los Pumas captain Julian Montoya after the World Cup? Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
While Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar is also on a four-person shortlist, which also features World Cup-winning South African coach Rassie Erasmus, the reigning English champions made contact with Cheika late last year as they moved towards finding a replacement for Borthwick.
The former England captain’s sudden appointment as Eddie Jones’ successor has meant Leicester are urgently trying to nail down their head coach to replace the interim Richard Wigglesworth, who is temporarily filling the role before joining Borthwick at the World Cup. It has left players concerned about their future.
Leicester, who is one of England’s richest clubs, have cash to spend because the Rugby Football Union had to remunerate them for taking the vast majority of their coaching structure following Jones’ axing last December.
It means they could offer Cheika, or indeed another name, a compelling offer to join them.
In addition, the current Los Pumas captain Julian Montoya is one of Leicester’s stars.
Playing against Cheika is he will take charge of Argentina until at late as the last week of October, but his name alone would likely ensure the English powerhouse remains a force going forward.
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