Dane Coles' verdict on Joe Schmidt taking over the Wallabies
Former All Blacks hooker Dane Coles has given his verdict on seeing Joe Schmidt, Ian Foster’s recent New Zealand assistant coach, taking over the Wallabies on a contract through to the end of the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour.
It was in London last August before the start of the Rugby World Cup across the Channel in France when the front-rower reacted with dismay on learning that Steve Hansen, his 2015 World Cup-winning boss with the All Blacks, had agreed to do some consultancy work for Eddie Jones and the Wallabies.
“Steve, what are you up to?!” said Coles to media at his team’s training base in Teddington after initially not believing the news.
“It hurts a little bit, to be fair. I know he is tight with Eddie, they are good mates… but he is a bit of an icon in the All Blacks set-up. I’m a bit speechless, a bit disappointing but we can’t do much about that.”
Six months later, things are now very different personnel-wise on the All Blacks-Wallabies front. Scott Robertson has taken over New Zealand with a phalanx of new staff and Schmidt, the former Ireland boss, has skipped across the Tasman to become head coach of Australia following the exit of Jones following his team’s pool stage elimination.
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Having initially decided to retire from playing after the All Blacks reached the World Cup final in France, an offer from Kubota Spears to play in the Japan Rugby League One as a replacement for the injured Malcolm Marx ticked the interest of the 37-year-old Coles.
Speaking on Tuesday over Zoom from Funabashi ahead of this weekend’s friendly between the Spears and the touring Super Rugby Chiefs, Coles wished Schmidt well – but not too well – in his new role.
“Aussie-New Zealand, it’s a great rivalry,” he told media. “When you have a guy that is in the All Black environment heading over, it’s kind of a kick in the guts. But once you get past that and understand, I’d rather see him coach as he still has a lot to give and is a great coach, so it’s good to see him put his hand up.
“It doesn’t mean I have to support him or be happy about it. It’s Aussie versus the All Blacks, I’ll have my All Blacks jersey on when they play. But it’s good to see him still in the game and just hopefully they don’t go too well.”
Coles had been under the impression that the 58-year-old Schmidt was retiring from coaching after finishing with Foster’s All Blacks. “He told me he was retiring to Taupo and he comes out as the Wallabies coach. All I can say is he is a great coach.
“You could see even with the All Blacks he has done real well, knows the game. He is very hard and has a lot of accountability, but I reckon he will be a great coach just from being in the All Blacks (with him). Australia not doing too well at the World Cup, international rugby needs Aussie to be stronger, like they were.
“If he can do that, which I am sure he will get that team up to scratch, it will be awesome. But yeah, it’s always a bit strange when you see a Kiwi coaching Aussie, but that is just the way the international game is now. High praise for him, though, he is a great coach and he will be good for the game. It’s good to see him still in the game.”
Explain how Schmidt made his mark on an All Blacks squad that wasn’t doing well before he joined midway through 2022. “He was big on our attack, our breakdown. He is real passionate and intense when he talks and in his delivery – it just makes you not want to let him down. He calls out people, puts you on the spot.
“He’s a real intense character when he is coaching and it was probably something we needed when he came in. It probably took a good couple of years for us to get up to international level so I suppose if he is going to be the head coach, it’s probably going to be even more intense which is his character. Off the field, great man. He played a massive part in us reaching that final of the World Cup.”
Would the All Blacks have gone so far at the finals without him? “No. I reckon, like I said before, he was a massive influence in us kind of getting back in those last couple of years to international standard and being consistent in those games as well. If he wasn’t there I don’t reckon we would have achieved or gotten into a final without him.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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