Ian Foster reveals how new selector Joe Schmidt can help the All Blacks
Less than 24 hours after it was first reported that former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt will join the All Blacks as an independent selector, New Zealand Rugby made the news official on Tuesday.
As such, the All Blacks now have their hands on one of the most highly-respected coaches in rugby, a prospect that should have Kiwi fans optimistic about New Zealand's short-to-mid-term future in the test arena.
The recruitment of Schmidt, the man recognised for transforming Ireland into a genuine global rugby powerhouse, in place of outgoing selector Grant Fox could be exactly what the All Blacks need after they fell short of their lofty expectations in 2021.
Despite locking away the Bledisloe Cup, Freedom Cup and Rugby Championship, the New Zealanders fell away towards the end of their campaign, which they closed out with back-to-back losses to Ireland and France.
Compounded by an earlier loss to the Springboks in their Rugby Championship finale, the All Blacks were condemned to their worst season record since they lost five matches in 2009.
Their inability to foot it with the growing powers from around the globe would have been a sticking point for head coach Ian Foster and his colleagues when the All Blacks began their end-of-year review upon their return to New Zealand late last month.
It's for that reason that the addition of Schmidt, albeit solely in a selector's role, could prove to be a valuable gain for the All Blacks given his experience abroad.
The 56-year-old achieved plenty during his title-laden 12-year stay in Europe, firstly as an assistant coach at Clermont, and then as head coach of Leinster.
However, it was his time at the helm of Ireland where Schmidt's credentials really rose to global prominence, as he steered the men from the Emerald Isle to three Six Nations titles, a Grand Slam, a world number one ranking and their maiden two victories over the All Blacks between 2013 and 2019.
While his offshore success makes him a highly-sought after coach, it's that latter achievement that will be of significant benefit to the All Blacks as he can provide Foster and his associates with insight into how their own team is viewed and exploited by opposing sides.
After having conducted multiple conversations with Schmidt over a prolonged period of time, Foster was aware of that benefit his former rival could provide the All Blacks, which is exactly part of the reason why he has been brought on board.
“It’s a clear asset," Foster told media on Tuesday of Schmidt's experience in defeating the All Blacks as Ireland boss in 2016 and 2018.
"I think that prepares Joe really, really well from a selection side because, like I said, we analyse our opposition players to the enth degree, so he’ll have a pretty clear idea of a lot of our players anyway.
"I think he’s also coached at a level recently against a lot of the other top teams that we have to play against as well, and that’s a clear advantage for us coming into this group.
"We’re saying goodbye to a very, very experienced selector with a vast depth and knowledge on the game, and yet we’ve been able to replace Foxy with vast experience and at a slightly different level, having coached internationally in the north, so I think it’s a great addition to what we offer."
That knowledge that Schmidt possesses equips the All Blacks well with how to deal with what they were confronted with in their defeats this year.
Whether it was their struggles against South Africa's forward pack and kick-heavy tactics, Ireland's dominance of possession and territory, or France's hybrid style of both game plans, there is plenty for the All Blacks to work through before next year.
Foster has acknowledged that, though, and said Schmidt's intellect as a veteran of the European game and rugby outside of New Zealand will do plenty for the Kiwis as they continue to build towards the 2023 World Cup in France.
“It’s obvious that it’s really topical now. We’ve had a pretty successful 2021, but we’ve lost to two northern hemisphere teams and that hurt," Foster said.
"By the way, we lost to two very good northern hemisphere teams, so we know we’ve got a bit of growth to do and a bit of learning to do, and I’m sure that Joe’s experience in the northern hemisphere’s going to be really useful for us, but it’s not the only thing.
"It’s more about him as a person, his ability to look at players and see strengths and weaknesses, and they’re key attributes as a selector.”
According to Foster, those attributes aren't the sole defining factors of Schmidt's selector position, as the former will "absolutely" use the latter as a soundboard for the All Blacks' tactical blueprint, just as he did with Fox during his spell in that role.
"I think Foxy has been, for a long time, a great sounding board in that space, and because he watches so much rugby, he’ll see a lot of things, and I think Joe will be exactly the same," Foster said.
"How we unfold that or how that looks over the next year-and-a-half, we’ll just grow that as we see fit, but, at the moment, yes, I certainly will be [discussing tactics with Schmidt], and I’m really excited about saying, ‘Well, here’s what we do, not what do you think?’, and, ‘Here’s what we’re thinking’, and, ‘Where are some obvious areas that we can change and grow?’.
"I think, two years out from a World Cup, it’s a great time to do that. I think this current year’s shown we’ve had a really good formula for the last part of the year, but it didn’t quite work at the end, so we’ve got to pull that apart, and Joe will be a great asset for us to go through that process as well.
"Finally, we had 40 players on the northern hemisphere tour, and nearly all of them, we felt, played at a really good level, so the selection side of the job is going to be as equally tough as we narrow it down going into a World Cup.”
Before all of that, though, Schmidt has his sights set on helping deliver the Blues with the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific title in his part-time role as a support coach next year.
Schmidt's job with the Auckland-based franchise comes after he relocated to New Zealand from Ireland to work in a consultancy role for World Rugby after the last World Cup, and he is eager to give back to the country he began his illustrious coaching career in.
"It’s exciting. I was soundboarding for a few coaches last year. Leon [MacDonald, Blues head coach] was obviously a key one, and so continuing that relationship with the Blues is kind of full circle for me, and I’m really looking forward to that in the short-term," Schmidt said.
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Skelton 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.
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.
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