Aussies now turning on their own Cheika

Michael Cheika needs to forget the clowns and start focusing on winning rugby matches write an Australian reporter. Photo / Photosports

Finally the Aussies are on our side.

They're joining the party, accusing their very own Michael Cheika of deflecting the blame from himself and his team in what was another dismal loss to the All Blacks on Saturday night.

His post-match tirade, attacking both the All Blacks and the New Zealand Herald for a cartoon which appeared in the Weekend Herald depicting him as a clown, has dominated the headlines - over and above the All Blacks astounding record or the Wallabies failings.

"Cheika is livid because the clown craze has finally hit New Zealand. The internet and electric shears are expected to follow soon," Daily Telegraph rugby columnist Richard Hinds wrote.

A sly dig at their small brother across the ditch, but he made no mistake of pulling the Aussie coach into the insult ring, calling on Cheika to forget the clowns, and win some rugby.

"Cheika made his fortune in the rag trade peddling upmarket frocks. To him a Wallabies jersey remains the Prada of sporting apparel. Something to be admired even as the All Blacks wipe their muddy boots on it.

"The Wallabies coach seems a man of conviction. But the cynical might suggest Bozogate provided a convenient distraction from another thumping defeat.

"After his trenchant press conference most eyes were closely examining a cartoonist's scribblings rather than the gaping holes in the right side of the Wallabies defence.

Hinds calls for Cheika to drop the "well-worn tactics" and start focusing on why his side are losing. Maybe that way the international media will start treating him fairly.

"For the Wallabies there is one way to blunten the artists' pencils. Win the Bledisloe Cup," he writes.

"But such is the gap between the All Blacks and the Wallabies the iPhone2 will have arrived in New Zealand before the trophy changes hands."