RWC 2015: We will need to be ‘special’ against New Zealand in final, says Australia coach Michael Cheika

Wallabies coach already preparing for All Blacks after semi-final win over Argentina

Michael Cheika was keen to emphasise his side’s attacking style after they beat Argentina (Getty)

Barely a year on from a situation of unparalleled disarray on and off the field, Australia and their talismanic coach, Michael Cheika, are in a World Cup final. A team transformed.

“I’m not taking any credit for any of that type of stuff,” he said. “It’s about players wanting to play, guys playing for each other. They want to play for Australia and they’re committed when they run on the field. In rugby, that’s the basic. Being committed when you run on the field. The rest of the stuff [about me], I haven’t thought about any of that.”

Australia scored four tries to Argentina’s zero, a statistic that moves beyond doubt who deserved to win a match that many an Argentine fan will still claim had a lot to do with a series of refereeing decisions.

“I’ve been brought up that tries are what it’s about,” Cheika said. “Attacking footy. If you don’t try to score them, you’re not going to score them. It can leave you open on the counter-punch sometimes and I’m sure teams look at that, but I think that’s how Australians want us to play. They want us to play that style.”

They face New Zealand, whom the South Africa coach, Heyneke Meyer, called the greatest team ever, in the final, for the first time, on Saturday.

“I don’t know about that,” Cheika said. “You’ve got to go into the history annals to work that out. They’re obviously the world’s No 1, aren’t they? And they’re there for a reason. We’ve only beaten them once in the last 10. They’ll feel they’ve got our measure. It will be up to us to do something special.”

Australia’s third try came while second row Tomas Lavanini was in the sin bin for a low tackle the referee Wayne Barnes controversially deemed dangerous after watching several replays.

“It was a perfect tackle,” said Lavanini’s team-mate Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe. “If this was a yellow card, then last week against Ireland he should have had three yellow cards. That’s that way Lavanini tackles. He’s very aggressive, he goes low. It’s always tough to defend with 14, and they managed to score. It’s very very hard playing catch-up rugby at this level.”

Argentina’s coach, Daniel Hourcade, who was pictured crying as the full-time whistle blew, said he was “completely satisfied” with how his players had performed. “We feel a huge pain. We were very excited and emotional. But I feel very proud of these players. I can’t remember if I cried or not, but I feel for these players. They gave everything.”

Australia will go in to Saturday’s match with only veteran Matt Giteau having any experience of playing in a World Cup final, back in 2003. Reigning champions New Zealand are not short on such experience. Australia’s No 7, Michael Hooper, who had another outstanding game, doesn’t think that matters too much. “They were in their backyard last time. This is a new game, a different game, we get to play them away from both of our homes and on a massive stage,” he said.

New Zealand have had a different path than us to here. They might be feeling different

&#13; <p>Michael Cheika, Australia coach</p>&#13;

If Australia, who will not start the match as favourites, are to overcome their greatest rival, it will require another outstanding performance from Hooper and his back-row partner, David Pocock.

“Pocock puts his head in places that are pretty dangerous and gets the ball out, and not just forcing penalties but a clean steal, and that changes the momentum of the game,” Hooper said. “The combination is working well. We’re not doing the same things. We’re not all flooding into the same breakdowns. That’s something we’re getting good at working at.”

Cheika added: “New Zealand have had a different path than us to here. They might be feeling different. But it’s a World Cup final. When you have a team like New Zealand has, that has many threats, well drilled, an excellent coach, well organised. They know what they’re doing at all times. You have to be working hard at all time.”