WALLABIES coach Michael Cheika has made the blunt admission that his players are struggling to maintain self belief and have been paralysed by a fear of failure.

Australia has slipped to seventh in the world rankings after winning just three of nine Tests in 2018 and their latest Jekyll and Hyde performance in Salta summed up their ongoing search for consistency.

The hope is that the 38-3 second half drilling of Argentina will prove a building block for the final section of their season, with games against New Zealand, Wales, Italy and England to follow.

Cheika, who gave a blistering halftime address in the Rugby Championship finale, believed mental demons came into play as the Wallabies slumped to a 31-7 deficit at the break.

“I’m not really up on social media or media, I don’t really read a lot of it, but players do, you know, they read all that stuff,” Cheika said on the latest Fox Rugby Podcast on Wednesday.

“And then as a consequence, win.”

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by CLICKING HERE Cheika confident on new deals

Cheika said he understood the public’s frustrations with the erratic Wallabies performances and signalled that there would be changes coming in how the coaching structure operates.

That didn’t mean heads rolling, however.

“Before you just go chopping guys or changing things around, you need to understand what we need to change internally to make a difference,” Cheika said on Wednesday’s edition of Fox Sports’ Kick & Chase.

BROKEN NECK TO THUMBS UP: Good news for All Blacks star Wallabies claim stunning win

“Because maybe what we were doing before hasn’t achieved the same outcomes.

Cheika hoped improved communication between the Wallabies and Super Rugby environments would reap rewards next season and said he hadn’t been consulted about the possibility of introducing an external selector for Test teams.

“But I’m not just picking numbers out of a hat,” Cheika said.

“I take advice from experienced coaches who have been in the job in the past as well.

“So I’m not just blindly looking… I’m always taking counsel on these things and I think, more often than not, we’re making the right calls.”

As for his epic halftime speech in Salta, Cheika deflected credit to the players for executing on the park.

“I would say a lot of thoughts were going through their head — a lack of confidence, a lack of belief.

“There was no technical information. Cheika goes off in sheds

“When you do lose confidence or you get blocked, it stops you from doing what you know.

“Your automatic system takes over and you get very narrow.

“What they had to do is understand that this is personal, let’s do what we know how to do and do it as best we can and see what happens.

“I know there’s been a lot of arrows and bullets flying but I’m connected to them.

“I know they’ve been struggling and it’s up to me to get them up and get them going again and that’s going to be on the agenda when we get to Japan.”

Cheika has won Heineken Cup and Super Rugby titles as well as guiding Australia to the 2015 World Cup final.

But, perversely, he seems to be relishing his current task more.
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