2 coaches, 2 Kiwis, 1 winner
As Steve Hansen and Joe Schmidt survey their surrounds in Tokyo Stadium tonight they may lock eyes and think ‘‘how did it come to this?’’
The noise, hype and excitement inside the arena will seem a million miles away from the modest grounds in New Zealand where they began learning the art of coaching rugby teams.
Hansen, 60, used to work as a policeman in Christchurch. Schmidt, 54, is a former school teacher who began his trade in Palmerston North and later worked in Napier and Tauranga.
Both were deemed good enough to play provincial rugby, but will admit they never got close to being picked for the All Blacks.
Hansen was a midfielder for Canterbury and Schmidt a wing for Manawatu¯ , but it soon became apparent their real talent lay in getting 15 people to work towards a common goal on a sports field.
The pair will now try to outwit each other in a World Cup quarterfinal in Tokyo.
If this isn’t a clash of the two best rugby brains in the world, it has to be close to it. The fact they got to where they are by starting at the grassroots level, makes their stories even better.
Ahead of the quarterfinal their pre-game routine will be familiar to those who have watched the All Blacks and Ireland duke it out in recent years.
Hansen and Schmidt will make small talk as their teams warm up on the turf at Tokyo Stadium, shake hands and wish each other luck.
They will then retreat to their coach’s boxes, plug in their ear pieces and then, once referee Nigel Owens signals game-on, try and make each other feel miserable.
A loss will mean one man is turfed out of the tournament, signalling the beginning of the end of his tenure with his employer.
Hansen will finish with the All Blacks after the tournament, but exiting this weekend isn’t part of the plan.
If he’s feeling the pressure, he wasn’t going to make it public.
‘‘You just hope it’s a good game of rugby that excites the tournament, that is not affected by cards and, at the end of it, no-one has got any excuses,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘You then have to take your fate on the chin.’’
Schmidt, who began coaching Ireland in 2013, will soon leave the job because he wants to spend time with family; and there has been no shortage of speculation he could one day coach the All Blacks.
But that’s not a conversation for now. His immediate goal is to advance Ireland beyond the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time.
The All Blacks will be nervous, and that’s understandable. Schmidt’s success rate against them is to be admired. They won’t have forgotten the defeats in Chicago in 2016, and in Dublin last year.
This week in Tokyo Schmidt relayed his memories of playing rugby barefoot in Kawakawa, Northland, before he moved with his family to Woodville, Manawatu¯ .
Later he helped coach Bay of Plenty and the Blues. Then came the call to join Vern Cotter at French club Clermont before his move to Ireland.
Clearly, he knows better than most coaches how Kiwi rugby teams function. That will give Ireland the belief they can win this.
Hansen’s All Blacks, a team with a turbo-charged attack, will be feverish to grab counter-attacking opportunities in Tokyo and Schmidt knows how lethal they can be.
‘‘If they turn ball over to them, they are ferociously dangerous,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘Their speed to transition from defence to attack is something that everybody fears about the All Blacks.
‘‘They are so quick. The have athletes that have skills, that have speed. And they have an innate sense of this attacking mentality. They are almost wired for it.’’