Cheika happy to 'fly the flag' for Lebanon

Having been involved in World Cup, Heineken Cup and Super Rugby finals in rugby union, an apparent dead-rubber fixture to conclude his side's involvement at the 2026 Rugby League World Cup may not initially seem to be among the most significant moments of Michael Cheika's storied coaching career. However, the 59-year-old Australian says he will be treating Lebanon's meeting with France on Sunday (06:50 GMT) as if it were another final. The Cedars, who reached the quarter-finals four years ago under Cheika, have been defeated by Papua New Guinea and Tonga in their opening two games, ending any hopes of reaching the knockout stages of this abridged tournament. "We've got the one game here against France on Sunday and it's really our Grand Final," said the Australian, whose side did not have a fixture between this World Cup and the last."I know it'll be for France as well, knowing some players inside of their team. "I suppose it's not the climax of the tournament, but definitely for us this is a finals fixture and we're approaching it that way."Born to Lebanese migrants, Cheika believes the relative rarity of being able to represent the country on a world stage means every opportunity to do so is special."The people in Lebanon are watching. I know my own relatives, they're watching and how often do they get to support their national teams on the world stage? How often do you get to support the flag? "Compare it to Aussies, we're getting to support a national team every five minutes, right?"For the Lebanese, it's not that simple and I just think the ability to let people see that their team is playing on the world stage is a buzz."Cheika's involvement with the team and the sport carries special personal significance too, providing a link back to the country of his ancestors that his family left in 1950 in search of a "better life". "It's a game that somehow has built a connection with the country from a distance," he said of Lebanon's interest in rugby league."I can tell a story of my own dad when he arrived, he didn't know where to go, he didn't have any connections or anything, so they dropped him in Redfern which is where the local Lebanese church is."Across the road from there is the Redfern Oval where South Sydney played. To integrate into the local community, to become Aussies, he thought let's go to the footy. Never seen it before, but started going over. That very working class Lebanese migrant that came here, they really connected to the game of rugby league."And I think now for the boys to be able to represent their heritage in their area of expertise, their passion, that's something I never thought I could do. I thought the only way I could help would be to do something for charity or politics but here we have an opportunity to fly the flag for people."While Cheika grew up watching both rugby codes, he concedes that there are challenges to swapping back and forth between the two.His last role in the 15-a-side game was with Leicester Tigers for the 2024-25 season and he will return to the Waratahs, where he won a title in 2014, for next year's Super Rugby campaign.Fluent in Arabic, French and Italian, he likens the process to moving between languages."You find out there's different grammar, different sentence construction. There's different emphasis on words or different accents, but at the end of the day, the values of what the player needs to have, those things are the same."Courage, aggression, commitment, the trust in your team-mates, all those types of things are the same."While work has already begun in the background for his Waratahs return, he does not believe Sunday's game will be his last in League."It's been unreal, I've got to admit," he added. "Last year, I think, was my 27th year coaching and it was something so fresh."I feel like I'll cross back and forth a few more times yet, hopefully, before no one wants to know about me any longer."