Cheika 'not having' rugby's doom and gloom

May 30, 2017 - 9:00 AM Coach Michael Cheika is ignoring the doom and gloom plaguing Australian rugby, saying it should not and will not affect the competitiveness of the Wallabies.

The woeful results suffered by Australian franchises in Super Rugby - as well as the controversial plans to dump the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels from the competition - have contributed to an overwhelming sense of turmoil this year.

But asked if that had made it tough to find enough players in form for his 34-man squad, ahead of next month's Tests against Fiji, Scotland and Italy, Cheika launched an impassioned defence of the code.

"I'm not having any of that," he said.

"This is Australian rugby - they're our players.

"They're capable of doing anything.

"It's about getting the mindset right and making them understand that they can do it, and then going out there and doing their absolute best.

"Yeah, we've had some difficult results perhaps, but I look down at the Brumbies and the way they went about their business on the weekend ... I didn't see a lot wrong with that performance.

"I know we need to be more consistent and I'm not making excuses for anyone. I'm just saying that we've got players there that can play better, some who are playing quite well, and we've got others who aren't in this squad that need to improve to push the competition up.

"When we do that, we'll be very competitive."

The Wallabies will assemble on Sunday in Melbourne ahead of their June 10 clash with Fiji at AAMI Park, before facing Scotland at Sydney's Allianz Stadium and Italy at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Source: AAP