Michael Cheika
| Date of birth | 4 March 1967 | ||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Sydney, NSW, Australia | ||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Rugby union coach | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Current status | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Head coach of Australia | ||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | No. 8 | ||||||||||||
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| Professional / senior clubs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
|
1985–89, 95–99 1989–91 1991–92 1992–94 |
Randwick Castres CASG Paris Rugby Livorno |
286 | |
| Provincial/State sides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1997 | NSW Waratahs | ||
| National team(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1988 | Australia U-21 | ||
| Coaching career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | ||
| 1999–2000 2001–05 2005–10 2010–12 2013–15 2014– |
Petrarca Padova Randwick Leinster Stade Français NSW Waratahs Australia |
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Michael Cheika (born 4 March 1967) is an Australian rugby union coach and a former rugby player. He is currently the head coach of the Australian national team. Cheika has Lebanese ancestry. He is the only coach to have won the major rugby club competition in each hemisphere, winning the Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2009 and the Super Rugby competition with the New South Wales Waratahs in 2014. During his career, Cheika was also head coach at Padova, Randwick and Stade Français.
Cheika was a No. 8 who played for Australia at under 21 level. He played more than 300 games for Randwick, winning the Shute Shield seven times during a period when the Galloping Greens dominated Sydney rugby.
As a player, Cheika made a mid-career move to Europe in 1989 where he had two seasons in the South of France with Castres Olympique in Division 1, and a season for Paris team Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux (later merged with Stade Français) in Division 2. He then joined Italian side Rugby Livorno alongside Randwick teammate David Knox from 1992 to 1994. He represented an Italian Selection XV against the All Blacks in 1993.
Returning to Australia, he captained Randwick from 1997 and 1999, and represented New South Wales on their spring tour of the UK in 1997.
Cheika had never coached before but in 1999 David Campese brought his attention to a coaching job in Italy. He applied for it and was successful. Cheika and Knox coached Petrarca Padova through a Heineken Cup campaign which did not yield any wins.
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