Many are interested to see how Cheika reacts to Johnson, the current director of rugby at Scotland, sitting above him in a new hierarchy RA believes will create long-term success for the national side. "We’ve had some very good discussions with Michael and he sees this as a model that allows him to do what he is best at which is coach the Wallabies," Castle said. "He is very supportive of this structure and no one more than Michael wants to see the Wallabies be successful. He started something, he wants to finish it." However, to complicate matters, Johnson will not begin with RA until mid-March, given he is contracted with the Scottish Rugby Union for next year's Six Nations tournament. RA would ideally have loved to snap up Johnson’s services as soon as possible but they have to respect that he cannot be a director of rugby in two countries at once. Whether he will be making calls to Super Rugby clubs in January and February and getting World Cup planning underway is unclear. Nonetheless, with only five Tests before the World Cup next September, Johnson does not have long to get things right.

Castle was unable to provide an answer at Monday’s press conference as to how long Johnson’s new contract was for but later said on Twitter she had misunderstood the question and that Johnson had signed on until 2021. In a statement, Johnson said: "I am excited to be returning to Rugby Australia in the Director of Rugby role and I am looking forward to supporting Michael and the Wallabies in their build-up to the World Cup. "I am also looking forward to working with the Super Rugby teams to build an aligned model that will enable sustained success for Super Rugby teams, the Wallabies and ensure we maximise the opportunities for Australian rugby." Castle also made it clear Cheika had the full support of the board despite the Wallabies winning four games from 13 starts in 2018, as well as 17 of 42 matches since the 2015 Rugby World Cup. RA high performance boss Ben Whitaker will remain with the organisation and Castle said no other staff had been moved on at this point in time.

"Ben continues and he will continue to lead a portion of the high performance environment," Castle said. "Ben needs to be congratulated for the work that he has done to get the relationship with the Super [Rugby] teams to this stage." Cheika welcomed the changes, describing them in a statement from the governing body as a "great move" for Australian rugby. “I’m looking forward to working with Scott and finishing the work that I started by making Australians proud of our performance.” Chairman Cameron Clyne said Johnson’s role would lead to greater alignment across Australian rugby as a whole and hopefully better results in the short and long term. “Obviously winning the World Cup next year is really critical and we’re confident we can do that with the right program," Clyne said. "We want to win the World Cup and then the Bledisloe [Cup], then we want to win Rugby Championships. The concern we’ve had is coaches have come and gone and a lot of the intellectual property has gone with them. We want to institutionalise a lot of the key components of a rugby program."