Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I MAY BE BACK IN A YEAR Schmidt hints at a 12-month break before taking next post
JOE SCHMIDT will take at least a year away from rugby before considering his next coaching move, he revealed yesterday.
The IRFU confirmed last month that the New Zealander will vacate his role as Ireland’s head coach after the World Cup finals in Japan.
Although that was expected, he had caused a stir by also stating that he was “finishing coaching” when his current contract runs out.
But after picking up the Philips Sports Manager of the Year award for the second time yesterday, he hinted at a return after a 12-month break.
That admission followed morning reports in New Zealand that he had turned down an assistant coaching role with the All Blacks last year to remain with Ireland for the duration of the current World Cup cycle.
“I would say it’s difficult not to stay where I am,” Schmidt said after the awards function in Dublin. “It’s difficult not to keep doing what I am doing with a fantastic group of people. Whatever decision you make you never say never but you’re always trying to do the best you can in a very short term you have left.
“For me that’s 11 months. I’m not looking any more forward than that.”
Elaborating briefly on the decision to step down after the finals in Japan and to make way for Andy Farrell as the new head coach, the Kiwi re-iterated his decision to put family commitments first.
“For me, there’s the older generation (at home in New Zealand) and my son the younger generation that will take up a lot of time in those 12 months post finishing,” said Schmidt.
“I’m looking forward to that as a different sort of challenge because I don’t get home very often. I’m away and in the coming year I’m going to be out of the home for more days than I am in the home.
“It’s a tough enough decision to come to terms with. For me I’m just fully focused on the next 11 months. It couldn’t be a bigger 11 months for us. We’ve got England in seven and a half weeks. I’m pretty good at shortening the focus.
“As a group we just want to roll our sleeves up and stay as competitive as we can.”
Schmidt will step down after six years as a Test coach having honed his management skills with Clermont and Leinster.
Asked if he was feeling that it was the right time to step away, Schmidt replied: “I think that’s part of it. Part of it is I think we have a great group of coaches.
“I always feel guilty getting awards like that because it is very much a team effort – a team behind the team. That’s not only the coaches but the physios, the analysts, logistics, nutritionists.
“There are so many involved in the jigsaw puzzle that needs to come together to paint the picture that allows the players to be as effective as they can be. We are in a good place from that perspective.
“With Simon Easterby and Andy and Richie Murphy, they are so competent. I think they will do a great job. There are all sorts of up sides to it.”