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Surely a man of Joe Schmidt’s track record could find something better
It can’t be the money?
Surely a man of Joe Schmidt’s track record, contacts and acumen could find a cushier role than this?
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A nice number advising a club from afar or a backroom high-performance gig would have to be better than this?
I get why Rugby Australia wanted him as Wallaby coach, even if the initial two-year term isn’t as easy to fathom.
I just can’t understand why Schmidt would be interested.
If he’s as keen as he says he is, in raising the level of rugby in Australia, then the Wallabies isn’t the place to do it. It’s on the Rugby Australia staff, installing and overseeing participation programmes at community level and coaching coaches so that the SOS doesn’t have to be sent for a New Zealander every few years.
Until then, as countrymen such as Robbie Deans and Dave Rennie can tell Schmidt, every Wallaby coach is doomed to failure.
There’s a part of me that says good on Schmidt. Coaching rugby is in his blood and has been for decades.
Long before he came to coaching prominence with Ireland, Schmidt was a revered schoolboy coach with seemingly little interest in the limelight of the professional game.
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That’s one of the curiosities of him choosing to throw his lot in with Australia.
Schmidt, as he’s mentioned many times, has a son with health problems. In declaring he would retire as Ireland coach after the 2019 Rugby World, Schmidt said his family needed to come first.
The same upon his return to New Zealand. He was coaxed into helping out the Blues and then the All Blacks, but not in a forward-facing role. He didn’t want to be the front guy and be doing media and glad-handing sponsors.
Head coaching no longer suited him or his family’s circumstances.
Am I glad Schmidt will now coach the Wallabies? Yes, on the whole.
He’s a terrific coach and I would support any recruitment decision that made that team more competitive.
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I don’t know if Schmidt can do that, but I’m sure he’s more likely to than any of the Australian options out there.
But I don’t get what’s in it for him.
Just take the Andy Farrell factor for a minute. Farrell, Schmidt’s longtime assistant with Ireland, succeeded him as head coach and arguably did a better job.
Farrell’s now coach of the British & Irish Lions team, who tour Australia in 2025 which, unless there is a contract extension, will be Schmidt’s Wallaby swansong.
Is Australia going to win that series? It’s hard to imagine right now.
Equally, what better way for Schmidt to bow out than beating Farrell’s Lions? Maybe that had an appeal.
I hope Schmidt can do well with the Wallabies. Just as I wished Deans, Rennie and Eddie Jones, for that matter, every success.
I think New Zealand rugby is better when Australian rugby is too. If Schmidt can achieve genuine parity between the Wallabies and All Blacks, then accepting the position will have been a masterstroke.
It’s just that, for the time being, I really don’t understand why he’s done it.
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to comments