Stephen Moore and Michael Cheika receives Israel Folau backing

Australian international Israel Folau has come out in support of captain Stephen Moore and head coach Michael Cheika after the duo have come under heavy criticism following Wallabies' dismal performances recently.

In 2016, Australia are yet to register a victory after losing the home series against England 3-0 and have gone on to lose their first two matches in the Rugby Championship to the All Blacks.

Cheika has come out in criticism over French official Roman Poite for some of his decisions against the Australian team in their second game of the Rugby Championship at Westpac Stadium.

Moore's contribution on the field as a player and his communication with the match officials has also come under the scanner. Despite, the criticisms around, Folau has come in strong support of Moore and further assured that the 33-year-old commands a lot of respect from the teammates.

“Steve’s a great leader for us, everyone respects him in the team,” Folau told Fox Sports.

“After the loss in Wellington he was quite upbeat and positive in the changeroom and making sure everyone’s trying to stay positive. He’s certainly well-respected amongst the group, there’s no doubts about that.”

The Australian centre also stated that it is unfair to direct the criticism on the coach and believes the responsibility lies on the players to go on the field and perform.

“Cheik is the type of person who’ll take the full blame but we know as players, a lot of that is coming back on us as well,” he said.

“We’ve got to take a fair bit of responsibility there, to take the initiative and try and turn things around.”