Schmidt has polished Emerald Isle
If Ireland can beat England at Twickenham on St Patrick’s Day to win the Grand Slam, coach Joe Schmidt will be anointed with near Messiah status.
Already there is talk of him being Ireland’s greatest ever coach of anything. The Irish love a little romanticising and goodness knows they have endured enough bleak sporting times over the years to celebrate what pockets of joy come their way, so they could be guilty of losing a little perspective.
But maybe not. Regardless of the result at Twickenham, Schmidt has universally established that he has a brilliant rugby mind and that he is already the most in-demand coach in the world game.
He is the man everyone wants. Ireland, where Schmidt has been at the helm since 2013, will be doing everything they can to extend his contract beyond the 2019 World Cup.
Schmidt, a proud New Zealander, is also a compelling candidate to take over from Steve Hansen as All Blacks coach. New Zealand Rugby will already consider him to be on the shortlist.
There appears to be an increasing desire among NZR top brass to emphasise that they have not committed to a succession plan where current assistant Ian Foster will take over coaching the All Blacks in 2020. England, too, would no doubt welcome an application from Schmidt to succeed Eddie Jones in 2021 and there will be endless clubs across Europe offering ridiculous money.
Virtually every door in world rugby will be open to Schmidt after the World Cup and he will be in the luxurious position of being able to choose which one he walks through.
And that’s because Ireland have transformed into something entirely new and impressive under Schmidt.
The old Ireland were always capable of being wild-eyed crazy for 65 minutes before the adrenaline ran out.
They would even have whole good years, like 2009 when they won a Grand Slam and went through the calendar year unbeaten.
But then the following year they conceded 60 points to New Zealand in June and were thumped again by the All Blacks in November. The new Ireland, the one created by Schmidt, don’t flake, wilt or implode like they used to.
There have been wobbly moments — a poor World Cup campaign in 2015, a heavy loss to England and unexpected losses to Scotland and Wales — but the overall assessment is that Ireland have been outstanding under Schmidt.
Since he took over in late 2013, Ireland have won 73 per cent of their games, collected three Six Nations titles and beaten the All Blacks for the first time.
They also hold the curious distinction of having beaten, in the last two years, every side currently ranked in the top 10.
These are achievements that can’t be fluked and Ireland have at last found not only a standard of performance many thought beyond them, but also a consistency.
And it doesn’t seem to matter who they put into the green jersey these days, whoever is playing, it looks like
The new Ireland, the one created by Schmidt, don’t flake, wilt or implode like they used to.
they should be there.
Ireland don’t crack easily. They play controlled yet ambitious rugby that is predominantly risk averse and yet carefree when the time is right. Schmidt has built a team that knows when the time is right to push the attack and never did they demonstrate that more clearly than last year when they dismantled the Springboks. South Africa may not be the team they once were, but still, Ireland destroyed them in Dublin last year with a kick-chase game that then broadened out to a pass and catch extravaganza.
In his five years at the helm Schmidt has turned Ireland into one of the more tactically astute teams in the world. He has improved their basic execution and understanding of how to play and instilled them with belief.
Ireland before Schmidt never quite had the conviction they could win against the best teams. They could get close, scare the big boys but always they would find a way to come up short.
They have that killer instinct now and will be able to prove that beyond doubt if they can become the first away team to beat England at Twickenham since Australia won there at the 2015 World Cup.