Back where he lifted a trophy
Michael Cheika is returning to rugby union. The NSW Waratahs confirmed a few hours ago that he will take charge from 2027, closing a detour into rugby league that began when he left Leicester Tigers in 2025.
He has signed an initial one-year deal with an option running into 2028. Nothing changes immediately. Cheika stays with the Sydney Roosters, the NRL club where he has been working as an assistant, until their current season is finished.
“The NSW Waratahs have always occupied a special place for me. It’s my home state and I feel ready to return as their Head Coach ahead of an important year for the Waratahs and also for Australian Rugby in the lead-up to the home Rugby World Cup,” Cheika said.
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A CV built on finals
He has done this job before, and he won with it. Cheika coached the Waratahs to the 2014 Super Rugby title, the only one in the franchise’s history, during a spell in Sydney that ran through the middle of the last decade.
Everything around that reads the same way. Leinster took the Celtic League under him in 2008 and the Heineken Cup a year later. Stade Francais reached the Challenge Cup final in 2011. At Test level he coached Argentina and Australia, guiding the Wallabies to the 2015 Rugby Championship and the World Cup final months later, a run that earned him World Rugby Coach of the Year.
His last union job ended on a high note too. Leicester reached the 2024/25 Premiership final with Cheika in charge before he stepped away from the 15-man game entirely.
Why the timing matters
The Waratahs have been looking for a coach since Dan McKellar left the post in June. B-J Mather, the club’s director of performance, called Cheika “a proven leader with an exceptional record across many years building and preparing teams to compete on rugby’s biggest stages” and pointed to what he described as a sincere passion for the club.
The contract length says less than the calendar does. Australia hosts the Rugby World Cup in 2027, and New South Wales remains one of the biggest suppliers of players to the Wallabies squad. Cheika walks in with a full Super Rugby season to sort out who is ready and who is not, in a state that has not celebrated a title since he last held the job.
He also arrives owing something to the club he leaves behind. “Before all of that, I want to give my all to my rugby league club, the Sydney Roosters, to help achieve our goal for this season, to pay them back for the trust and belief they have always shown in me,” he said.
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