We have had our fair share of laughable coaches in years gone by, but if I was an Ozzie I would be pretty embarrassed with Michael Cheika.

He doesn’t look or sound like a modern day international coach, and he can often get seriously hot under the collar.

Take for example the aftermath of Saturday’s draw against the Boks, where one of the big talking points was Israel Folau’s tackle on Dillyn Leyds.

Let’s start with Cheika’s outburst when questioned about the tackle:

The @qantaswallabies coach Michael Cheika disputes that Dillyn Leyds was pulled by the hair #Rugby #RugbyChampionship #SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/BYHBti6VPH

— Morgan Piek (@MorganPiek) September 30, 2017

Have you played rugby maaaaate? Forget about it.

The problem with that approach is that it happened during an international test match, which means there is footage.

Like this video, where you can see Folau slip from Leyds’ collar and then cling onto his hair:

What happened next is classic Bok rugby, with skipper Eben Etzebeth charging in like a madman.

I have seen two takes on this – some praised the captain’s reaction, saying a young player wants to see his skipper have his back, and others argued that a captain should keep his cool in situations like this:

When it comes to rugby one should always ask the question of what the All Blacks would do, and somehow I don’t think Kieran Reed would go barrelling in to brawl.

If you want Eben to play the role of enforcer then fine, but make Siya Kolisi captain and free the current skipper up to be the hard man on the field.

Even the Ozzie press were pretty astounded at coach Cheika’s reaction, and the Sydney Morning Herald had this to say:

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has lost his cool in his post-match press conference at an allegation star fullback Israel Folau pulled the hair of a South African player, despite evidence showing at one stage he did have a grip of the footballer’s locks…

Replays show Folau trying to grab Leyds by the collar before his hand slips off and grabs a chunk of hair in his right hand.

The incident looked nasty and even worse on replay but on-field referee Ben O’Keeffe decided a penalty to the Springboks would suffice.

And he was clearly unimpressed with Etzebeth:

“The other bloke [Etzebeth] comes in and charges, doesn’t get him with the elbow but it was angling that way but nothing is said about it,” Cheika said. “He [Folau] didn’t whack him with his forearm or anything. The other guy comes charging in, he’s captain of the other team, elbow’s up, he doesn’t get him but if he does, what happens then?”

As for Bok winger Leyds, he wasn’t backing down either:

“100 per cent [it was] the hair,” Leyds said. “He actually pulled me by the hair twice. He had one go at it and then he got his left hand on it and then he pulled me down and my hair again.

“I don’t know what their version of the story is but I was 100 per cent pulled by the hair.”

We know he did, mate, and so does anyone else who isn’t affiliated with Australian rugby.

It’s not just Cheika that lost his cool, though, because our own Allister ‘Toetie’ Coetzee had a little meltdown of his own.

Via Balls:

On Friday, the Irish Times led with the definitively headlined ‘Johann van Graan is the new Munster Director of Rugby’.

Van Graan, who is currently the Springboks forwards coach, has been part of the South African coaching team since 2012 when he joined under Heynke Meyer. When Allister Coetzee took over from Meyer last year, Van Graan was retained.

When asked about that story, Coetzee went off on a proper rant. Video via Brenden Nel:

Safe to say somebody is feeling the strain of 2017 results taking a turn for the worse.

[sources:sydneymh&balls]