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Ex-Ireland boss Joe Schmidt has taken up a full-time position with World Rugby
By Online Editors
Joe Schmidt is back in full-time rugby, the former Ireland coach becoming World Rugby's new director of rugby and high performance and quashing speculation that he was set for a move back into the club game in England or France.
Since stepping down at Ireland boss at the end of last year's World Cup in Japan, there had been much speculation about what the New Zealander's next move would be.
However, instead of taking on a big project outside Ireland, Schmidt has hooked up with the Dublin-headquartered World Rugby to take charge of a new department in the international federation responsible for the high performance, match officials and technical services functions, including player welfare as well as training and education.
In the role, Schmidt will report to chief executive Brett Gosper from November within a restructure reflecting the organisation’s objective of further engaging coaches, players and match officials in the decision-making process, as it seeks to make the sport simpler, safer and more enjoyable for both participants and spectators.
Schmidt said: “I'm really looking forward to getting started. I'm passionate about the game and keen that people continue to enjoy being involved in it, from the young to the young at heart.
"The professional game is the showpiece for our sport and involving key stakeholders in our discussions about how the game is played and how players are managed will be beneficial. It has been a challenging year thus far and likely to remain difficult for some time, but it has been great to see the resumption of numerous competitions, with plenty of entertaining and exciting matches.”
Gosper said: “We are delighted to appoint a person of Joe’s calibre, expertise and global credibility to this newly-created and strategically important position within the organisation.
“As an international federation, we must strive to continually increase our connection and collaboration with the most important stakeholders in our game – players, coaches, match officials, unions and, of course, fans.
"It is fantastic to have an individual who has been at the forefront of the high-performance game management evolution at the very highest level for well over a decade."
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Latest Comments
Ireland have every right to back themselves for a win. But the key variable has little to do with recent record etc.
The reality is that Ireland are a settled team with tons of continuity, an established style, and a good depth chart, whereas NZ are fundamentally rebuilding. The questions are all about what Razor is doing and how far along he is in that program.
NZ are very close to really clicking. Against England all of the chatter is about how England could have closed out a win, but failed to do so. This has obscured the observation that NZ were by far the more creative and effective in attack, beyond the 3-1 try differential and disallowed tries. They gave away a lot of unnecessary penalties, and made many simple errors (including knock-ons and loose kicks). Those things are very fixable, and when they do so we are once again going to be staring at a formidable NZ team.
Last week we heard the England fans talking confidently about their chances against NZ, but England did not end up looking like the better team on the field or the scoreboard. The England defense was impressive enough, but still could not stop the tries.
Ireland certainly has a better chance, of course, but NZ is improving fast, and I would not be surprised at a convincing All Black win this week. It may turn on whether NZ can cut out the simple mistakes.
Go to commentsFair to say that NZ have come to respect Ireland, as have all teams. But it's a bit click-baitey to say that the game is the premier show-down for NZ.
SA has beaten NZ four times in a row, including in the RWC final.
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