Rugby: Former Wallabies mentor Michael Cheika joins Pumas coaching staff for Rugby Championship

Argentina has brought in former Wallabies coach and World Cup finalist Michael Cheika as an assistant ahead of the Rugby Championship.

Cheika will work under Mario Ledesma helping with logistics and tactical advice. Ledesma once served under Cheika as an assistant in Australia.

It will be his first rugby-based role since the 2019 Rugby World Cup, having served as a consultant at NRL club the Sydney Roosters earlier this year.

Ledesma told AAP he proposed the plan to Cheika at the start of the year, and was met with immediate interest.

"We agreed from the first moment … he always liked Argentine rugby a lot," he says.

"It is an excellent opportunity to continue learning all because he is a person who thinks a lot about things outside the box, who has an innovative and super creative vision, different from that of many coaches that I've come across."

It creates an intriguing subplot to the upcoming Rugby Championship as Cheika will no doubt be motivated to grab a win over his former side, and his successor Dave Rennie.

Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is joining the Pumas for the Rugby Championship as an assistant. Photo / Photosport

His last match in charge of the green and gold came in the World Cup quarter-finals, where Australia was eliminated at the hands of England.

Rennie's first outing as coach of the Australian side comes in the form of two Bledisloe Cup tests in New Zealand before the revamped tournament, kicking off on November 7 in Brisbane.

Australia and Argentina will face off in the third and fourth rounds.

Sanzaar remains confident the tournament will go ahead as set, despite New Zealand Rugby's dismay at the schedule that will see players need to self-isolate over Christmas, based on current quarantining rules.