Is Ireland coach Schmidt at risk of burnout?
Kiwi coach Joe Schmidt is facing extra scrutiny after Ireland’s disappointing Six Nations campaign with an Irish critic suggesting he might be on the brink of burn out.
Schmidt pointed a finger at the media after Ireland’s lame 25-7 loss to grand slam winners Wales in Cardiff last weekend.
He complained about midweek stories suggesting Sean O’Brien and Tadhg Beirne would return to Ireland’s starting team.
‘‘One of the things for us which is probably frustrating for us is that ‘Gats’ [Wales coach Warren Gatland] knows our team before time,’’ Schmidt said.
‘‘It didn’t help with the preparations. That’s always a frustration for us.’’
Malachy Clerkin, writing for The Irish Times, wondered if Schmidt – said Schmidt had forged a reputation as a workaholic coach.
‘‘Mostly, the public know him as Late Late Show Joe – affable, humble, gee-shucks Joe. Inevitably and necessarily, his rugby persona has a much sharper edge. He’s merciless Monday review Joe, sky-high standards Joe, exacting Joe. Most of all and first of all, he’s no-stone-unturned Joe, see-around-corners Joe.
But Clerkin wondered if Schmidt – who is stepping down after the Rugby World Cup – ‘‘maybe . . . on the verge of being burnt out. Everyone you talk to about him calls him variations on the same thing – a rugby nerd, an obsessive, someone who lives the game to an extreme degree. It’s no slight on Schmidt to wonder how long – and to what degree – anyone can keep that up for. Especially when the end is hoving into view.
‘‘Ever since he landed here to take over from Michael Cheika at Leinster, Schmidt has earned himself a rarefied spot in the Irish sports psyche. His record has been unimpeachable, his effect on the players and coaches who have worked under him has been borderline life-changing.
‘‘For [Brian] O’Driscoll to get 11 years into one of the great careers in sport before meeting the best coach he’d ever know tells you everything.
‘‘Is he still that coach? That’s the question that will presumably needle him for the coming months. It goes without saying that Schmidt has earned every inch of the benefit of the doubt. At the same time nobody, no matter what they’ve achieved, reserves the right not to be doubted at all.
‘‘He has six months to turn it around. Then six weeks, all going well, before he can get on with the rest of his life.’’
Ru´ aidhrı´ O’Connor, writing in The Irish Independent, said Schmidt had to take a hard look at himself. He said the Irish coach had called out the media for undermining team preparation and queried some of referee Angus Gardner’s rulings, as well as suggesting some team members were troubled by a bug in the camp.
‘‘In 20 minutes answering questions and trying to provide assurances, Schmidt never once countenanced the idea that his game-plan is broken or that opposition teams have figured out that, if they can match Ireland physically, they have little else to back it up.’’
O’Connor said commentators were ‘‘only responding to what they see on the pitch and for 2018 the team surfed a wave of wellearned positivity. Schmidt can’t expect people to ignore the obvious deficiencies in a team who, in four of the last five games, have been well below their best.
‘‘On Saturday, the fundamentals of their game fell apart.’’
Gareth Morgan, an Irish Independent columnist, claimed Schmidt had been ‘‘heavily outfoxed in the psychological battle as Ireland fail in rain-sodden al fresco test’’.
‘‘. . . nobody, no matter what they’ve achieved, reserves the right not to be doubted at all.’’ Malachy Clerkin, Irish journalist