Rugby: Michael Cheika's bizarre plan to beat the All Blacks

Marika Koroibete, Israel Folau and Bernard Foley run with tape over their mouths. Photo / Getty

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is going to unconventional lengths as he tries to overcome the All Blacks.

The Wallabies have been pictured training with tape over their mouths, to improve their fitness levels.

By running up hills with their mouths taped up at Sydney Park, the players are forced to breathe through their nose - which apparently makes a difference to their fitness levels.

While innovative, the breathe-through-the-nose technique is not one which works for all of the world's best rugby players.

Brodie Retallick. Photo / Getty

Because their Super Rugby teams were terrible in 2017, the Wallabies have had a head-start in getting ready for the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney on August 19.

Their training also saw Cheika dig into his team-building ideas, making some players run up hills with blindfolds on, reliant on their teammates to guide them.

Wallabies halfback Nick Phipps noted the importance of fitness to match the All Blacks.

"We just want to make sure that we're as best as we can possibly be for the first game," Phipps told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"If we're not ready to be physically as good as we can be by the first Bledisloe, we're wasting our time. We've got to be ready to go."