Schmidt hailed as Irish economic saviour
Ireland’s Kiwi coach Joe Schmidt is being hailed for helping turn the national rugby union’s dire financial situation around.
Schmidt has guided Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles and a rise to No 2 in the world rankings behind the All Blacks that has made them a real contender for this year’s Rugby World Cup.
And the flow-on effect is a $14 million surplus on record income of $124 million for the 2014-15 accounts.
The Irish union was struggling just two years ago with dire predictions, especially with unsold 10-year tickets sales for the impressive Dublin stadium.
Those tickets have now all been sold as punters lap up the success of Schmidt’s side, who have won 15 of their 19 matches since he took charge.
‘‘Joe would be first to say he is a cog in the business unit that is the national team,’’ Irish rugby chief Philip Browne told the Irish Daily Mail.
‘‘He’s an extremely important cog in the whole thing but equally the players have to deliver and he has been able to get the best out of those players and they have delivered.
‘‘Everything depends on everything else in this sport. We can’t live on the results from last season. We have to work on performance all the time, so we can’t neglect the academy system, the high performance pathway or the domestic game either.
‘‘Everything contributes to the success, but Joe has a tremendous ability to bring focus and clarity to the national team and what he wants the players to do — that is reflected in the national team’s results.’’
Ireland beat Scotland 28-22 at the weekend, coming on top of a win against Wales the previous week as they continue a strong buildup for next month’s World Cup.