Report: Joe Schmidt set for temporary return to Irish rugby

Now that Joe Schmidt’s tenure as Wallabies head coach has ended, speculation about his next move has never been far away. And, according to The Australian, the 60-year-old Kiwi will soon be heading back to Ireland, where he enjoyed a trophy-laden spell with the national team and Leinster, as a consultant to Ulster.

In six years under him, Ireland won three Six Nations, including a Grand Slam in 2018. Ireland were ranked No.1 in the World Rugby Rankings for the first time in their history in 2019, and recorded their first-ever wins over New Zealand. With Leinster, he won four titles in three seasons, including back-to-back European Cups.

Schmidt’s reputation as one of the finest minds in the game has remained largely intact, despite winning just 12 of his 30 Tests in charge of Australia, the worst success rate of any Wallabies coach in the modern era, and Ulster want him to come and oversee their preparations ahead of the start of the United Rugby Championship, which gets underway on Friday, 25 September.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy was a long-time lieutenant of Schmidt’s at Leinster and The Australian say that his mentor has been invited over to Belfast to spend a month at last season’s beaten EPCR Challenge Cup finalists. Ulster came off second-best to Montpellier, 59-26, and just missed out on the end-of-season play-offs in the URC, representing a disappointing return.

Dan McKellar’s removal as head coach of the Waratahs with one year of his three-year deal left to run had led to rumours that Schmidt might come to their rescue, but that looks unlikely to happen now.

Schmidt’s links to Australian rugby haven’t been severed altogether, though, with The Australian reporting that he will still assist Stephen Larkham during Australia A’s two-game tour in the US against the Eagles in October.

Ulster begin their URC challenge with a game against Edinburgh at the Affidea Stadium in just under two months’ time.