Back to the future: Cheika returns as Waratahs coach

Michael Cheika has answered Rugby Australia's SOS call to coach the NSW Waratahs some 13 years after guiding the perennial under-achievers to their one and only Super Rugby crown.

Cheika will return next season on a two-year deal after ending his stint as a Sydney Roosters' NRL assistant coach.

Also the first coach to pilot sides to major titles in the northern and southern hemispheres after leading Leinster to 2009 European Cup glory, Cheika has been commissioned to arrest the Waratahs' alarming decline.

One of Australia's biggest, oldest and proudest clubs, the RA-run Waratahs have missed the past three Super Rugby Pacific finals despite boasting a Wallabies-laden roster.

Dan McKellar was let go with a year remaining on his contract after two frustrating seasons in charge, after taking over from Darren Coleman at the end of 2024.

Cheika, who also coached the Wallabies to their most recent Rugby World Cup final in 2015, will reunite with his 2014 premiership-winning halves Bernard Foley and Nic Phipps, who were announced last week as marquee signings.

World Rugby's 2015 coach of the year will also have superstars Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii and Max Jorgensen and Roosters recruit Angus Crighton in his Waratahs backline next season.