LEINSTER COACH Michael Cheika has been linked with a return to Australia next year to coach the new Melbourne-based Super 15 side – if the city is awarded a licence for the expanded 2011 Super Rugby competition.
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has made Melbourne its sole candidate for an additional Super Rugby team, and Cheika, who led Leinster to Heineken Cup glory in May, is top of its coaching wish list.
Former Leinster star Rocky Elsom, who has only signed a one-year deal to play for the ACT Brumbies next season, is also on Melbourne’s Super 15 radar.
Elsom played under Cheika during Leinster’s march to Heineken Cup victory, with the Wallabies enforcer named man-of-the-match in the 19-16 final triumph against the Leicester Tigers.
However, the proposed Melbourne team is facing rival bids from New Zealand and South Africa. ARU chief executive John O’Neill said the board has thrown its weight behind the Melbourne bid after the city missed out to Perth in 2006.
“We are in a three-nation race for the licence and we want the 15th team in Australia, so we need to focus our energy on what will be our most compelling bid,” O’Neill said.
Super rugby’s governing body Sanzar (South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby Unions) has ruled that the 15th team will play in an “Australian conference” with the country’s four other Super teams. But they have also allowed New Zealand and South Africa to bid.
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