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'They'd hood you... they'd grab you and take you into this dark room'
By Josh Raisey
The stories that emerge from World Cup training camps are seldom pleasant, but few nations will be able to rival the lengths that Michael Cheika went to before the 2015 showcase.
While it was a tournament that went well for the Wallabies, as they reached the final, it began with what Adam Ashley-Cooper recently described as "kidnapping blokes and interviewing them in an interrogation environment."
Joining the latest episode of RugbyPass TV's Boks Office in collaboration with The KOKO Show, Matt Giteau, Ashley-Cooper and Drew Mitchell went into detail about the former Wallabies coach's methods to see "how aligned" the group were. All three started in the 34-17 loss to the All Blacks in the final at Twickenham a few weeks later.
Their experiences then inspired Schalk Burger to discuss a similar test prior to the 2003 World Cup with the infamous Camp Staaldraad.
Cheika took the helm at Leicester Tigers this summer, so we wait to see if similar stories emerge in due course.
"I wasn't necessarily kidnapped, I just go interviewed," Ashley-Cooper said.
"Basically, I think [Cheika] just wanted to kind of test the group around being interviewed, what you'd give away," he continued. "Because I think for him it was about how aligned are the group. And also for him, creating a shared experience. So he had this way of mixing things up in terms of prep to make it memorable and I don't know if you can get any more memorable than kidnapping blokes and interviewing them in an interrogation environment."
Mitchell added: "He had a group of guys who came and said 'you've got to meet here' and they'd grab you and take you into this dark room, they'd hood you and then go into a dark room. All of a sudden they take the hood off and there's a bloke in black just talking to you with a camera."
Ashley-Cooper continued: "Bright lights in your face. You couldn't see anyone behind and Cheika was in the back of the room.
"His big thing is he wanted to test how strong the group was," Giteau added. "The guy interviewing said 'don't say anything', not to tell anyone. There were maybe five or six blokes that were interviewed and until this guy came out later in this team meeting, no one had spoken about it. So it showed that they were tight."
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Latest Comments
What, for being allowed to come in from the side ruck time with impunity, and being allowed to lay on the wrong side of the ruck continually, with berry saying " they're trying to roll away" lets face it, any other ref and Ireland would have had several in the bin for repeat offences.
Go to commentswhere SA really have an edge is in terms of systems and cohesion, not in terms of players.
the SA front 5 are a really great unit, but England contained them pretty well last year. Boks fans have a short memory if they think they'll be able to walk over George Martin.
I've been critical of England's selections at 9 & 10, but I don't think Williams & Libbok are convincing either, especially if Libbok is the primary goalkicker. Fassi is a good player, but a long way off a prime Willie le Roux.
And the bench is obviously great, but not thaaat great. Am is coming to the end of his career, and there's a bit of a lack of heft - if Martin handles Etzebeth like he has done before, its not clear what Rassie's plan B would be.
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