As he gets ready to depart Leicester Tigers after just one season, Cheika, 58, has even reached out to Welsh players to better grasp what the position would involve.
As he considers his future coaching move, Wales target Michael Cheika is said to have spoken with Racing 92.
It is believed that the former Wallabies manager is among the front-runners to succeed Warren Gatland as Wales’ head coach.
Wales was never going to be the only team interested, though, considering his reputation in the game and the trophies he has won.
Although it’s unclear if Cheika will have another chance at the Wallabies position, it was recently reported that she met with Rugby Australia manager Phil Waugh while she was back in Sydney.
And now it would appear he’s on the radar of the Top 14 side, with Midi Olympique reporting that Cheika has already spoken to Racing 92 on a video call as club president Jacky Lorenzetti searches for a new coach.
Former Montpellier, Toulon, Brive and La Rochelle coach Patrice Collazo was recently brought in to save the Parisian club from relegation after former England coach Stuart Lancaster left his role at the end of January.
Collazo, who saved Montpellier from relegation last season, has signed a contract to the end of the current campaign in June, but reports suggest he is unlikely to keep the job beyond the summer.
They add that Cheika, who lived in Paris prior to taking the Leicester job, held a video call with Lorenzetti at the start of March.
The Welsh Rugby Union will be watching the situation closely, as they look for a replacement for Gatland – after he walked away from the job after losing 20 of 26 Test matches.
WRU CEO Abi Tierney is keen on hiring a new director of rugby before a head coach, with an appointment of the former expected by the end of this month.
However, she did admit at a press conference when Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt was put in interim charge of the national team that they could move for a coach first if the right one was at risk of being lost to another job.
It’s understood that the coaching candidates the Union have spoken to already are also keen on understanding what type of director of rugby will be hired by the Union before they consider the head coach job.
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