Schmidt a proud Kiwi who’s the pride of Ireland
As the All Blacks stare in the mirror they will see another shiner inflicted by Kiwi coaching wizard Joe Schmidt.
The 16-9 defeat to Ireland in Dublin yesterday is sure to fuel debate that Schmidt should be short-listed for the All Blacks coaching job if he doesn’t stick with Ireland after next year’s World Cup.
The former Manawatu wing has now guided Ireland to two wins over the All Blacks in four clashes since 2013.
The first was in Chicago in 2016 and, three years earlier, in Schmidt’s first season in charge, the Irish were denied a famous victory only because Aaron Cruden kicked a sideline conversion in overtime.
He might be a proud New Zealand but Schmidt said there were no conflicting emotions after this famous win at Aviva Stadium, the first over the All Blacks on Irish soil.
‘‘I am 100 per cent an All Blacks supporter when they are playing anybody but us,’’ an elated Schmidt said. ‘‘Just because [that’s] where the roots were.
‘‘And, at the same time, I work with an incredibly committed bunch of men, who really go out and earn what they get.
‘‘There is no real mixed emotion about that because they are the people I am close to,and they are the people I see working so hard to achieve what they do.
‘‘It is one of those things, I suppose, it does make it a little more complicated in this game. Particularly for me. At the same time I am incredibly proud of the group of Irish players who went out there and did what they did tonight.’’
The All Blacks knew what Ireland were going to: hold the ball as much as they could, use their big, gnarly forwards to keep
smashing the defensive line and then kick to their back three.
And so it proved. The problem for the All Blacks was that when they got their chances, their execution wasn’t good enough. Rieko Ioane found space off a lineout move but the pass didn’t connect, Kieran Read could have scored if he had sucked up a charged-down kick and Ben Smith was denied when a grubber kick was mopped up by Irish back rower Peter O’Mahony.
Schmidt avoided talk about his side now being the favourites to win the Rugby World Cup, saying it was too far away to contemplate such suggestions.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen
was asked by a representative from the Irish media if this made Ireland favourites from the World Cup.
‘‘You will make them favourites, so if you want to make them favourites go ahead,’’ Hansen said.
Hansen criticised his side for giving referee Wayne Barnes reasons to penalise the All Blacks, who conceded nine penalties in the first half.
‘‘Some of the penalties in the first half were just dumb. Is that because we made a mistake and tried to fix them up? I am not sure. They were avoidable penalties. We will give ourselves an uppercut for that.’’