Joe Schmidt makes surprise return to Super Rugby with the Blues
Former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt will make a surprise return to the Blues next year by joining the franchise’s coaching staff in a supporting role.
The 56-year-old Kiwi was unveiled as two new coaching additions by the Auckland-based franchise ahead of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific campaign on Tuesday, with Craig McGrath also joining the side as defence coach from the Auckland NPC team.
Schmidt hasn’t coached since Ireland were knocked out of the 2019 World Cup quarter-finals by the All Blacks, as he moved into World Rugby’s director of rugby and high performance role in the wake of that tournament.
Schmidt left that position earlier this year to relocate from Ireland to New Zealand to be closer to family, but stayed on board with World Rugby as a member of the High Performance Rugby Committee and Laws Review Group.
However, he will move back into a coaching position with the Blues as a part-time support coach as an assistant to head coach Leon MacDonald.
The move back to the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman champions comes a decade-and-a-half after he last worked for the Blues as an assistant coach under Peter Sloane and David Nucifora between 2005 and 2007.
Schmidt then moved to France to work as Vern Cotter’s assistant coach at Clermont, where he won a Top 14 title in 2010, before taking on the head coach role at Leinster later that year.
During his three-season spell at the Dublin-based club, Schmidt won two Heineken Cups, one Challenge Cup and one Pro12 title in a trophy-laden stint that eventually won him the Ireland head coach job in 2013.
Ireland enjoyed unprecedented success under Schmidt’s guidance, as they won three Six Nations titles, one Grand Slam, beat the All Blacks for the first two times ever in the nation’s history and climbed as high as first on the World Rugby rankings.
Schmidt was rewarded for his efforts with Ireland by being crowned World Rugby Coach of the Year in 2018.
McGrath, meanwhile, has held various roles as a coach since finishing his playing career in 2008 after having appeared for the Blues, Auckland, North Harbour and Maori All Blacks, among other teams.
The 47-year-old’s coaching experience includes a four-season spell as an assistant coach at the Melbourne Rebels, as well as a three-year stint with the Honda Heat in Japan’s Top League, before joining Auckland last year.
“You look around the world of rugby at the moment and there are a lot of similarities from team to team … We’re planning on being a little bit different.”
New @MoanaPasifika_ coach Aaron Mauger spoke to @PatMck6. #SuperRugbyPacifichttps://t.co/CyR0GJNKCd
— The XV Rugby (@TheXV) November 1, 2021
Blues chief executive Andrew Hore said he was delighted with the experience both coaches will offer the Blues following the departure of assistant coach and former head coach Tana Umaga from the franchise.
“Our strategic plan is clear. We need to develop success for today and develop success for tomorrow,” Hore said.
“In this role, Joe will be able to support Leon and also Craig, as our new defence coach, given Joe’s own expertise as a defence coach over many years. It is an ideal blend of youth and experience, and we are rapt to be able to have both join our camp.”
MacDonald echoed Hore’s sentiments as he said he is eager to extend the personal relationship he has developed with Schmidt in recent times.
“Joe has been mentoring me the last 12 months, which has been incredibly helpful. Having him as part of the coaching team will give us a different voice in the mix and he can also look at things through a different lens and really challenge us,” he said.
“Craig brings that fresh approach and adds to the group of young coaches we have here now, who we are really keen to develop and grow as part of building strong foundations for ongoing success.”
Schmidt said he is excited to join the Blues as Umaga’s replacement and work alongside MacDonald and McGrath in the franchise’s coaching ranks.
“I’m really looking forward to coming back and helping out the coaching staff at the Blues. I know pretty much the whole crew and it’s a nice fit stepping in for Tana, who I greatly respect,” he said.
“I have really enjoyed getting to know Leon. He is doing a great job and has got the team in a really good place after their success this year. I’ve also got a lot of time for Ice (McGrath) and look forward to linking up with him again.”
McGrath, meanwhile, said he will look to lean on Schmidt’s vast coaching experience after having served under him as a player during the pair’s initial stint at the Blues during the mid-2000s.
A one-test All Black and 2015 Super Rugby title-winner has returned to the Highlanders as one of two new signings ahead of next year’s campaign. #Highlanders #SuperRugbyPacific https://t.co/fB1PpRbIEi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 31, 2021
“I’m really grateful to The Blues, Auckland and to Leon for this opportunity – and having Joe involved means I get the opportunity to have access to all his experience, especially in defence, and get world-class professional development every day,” McGrath said.
“Having been a player and then in my work with Honda we had an association with the Blues, so it was always at the back of mind that I wanted to come back to Auckland and the Blues at some stage.”
Both coaches will take up their new roles in the coming weeks as the Blues move into pre-season training ahead of next year’s season.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
11 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
11 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
11 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to comments