Kiwi quartet to the fore as paths cross in World Cup quarter-finals
Of the eight teams remaining in the Rugby World Cup four are coached by New Zealanders who, from similar beginnings, pursued divergent coaching careers before their paths intersected at this tournament.
Steve Hansen of the All Blacks, Joe Schmidt of Ireland, Jamie Joseph of Japan and Warren Gatland of Wales have guided their teams to the quarter-finals, demonstrating the strong influence of Kiwi coaches on international rugby. Of the 20 teams that qualified for the World Cup, eight had New Zealanders as head coaches.
Hansen and Schmidt go head-to-head on Saturday in Tokyo, so it’ll be the end of the tournament for one of them and the mind games have already started.
“We’ve got weaknesses like everybody else, so you’ve got to look at your own weaknesses as much as anybody else’s,” Hansen said. “You know that Joe does a lot of studies, so that can be a strength and a weakness. I might be able to set him up!”
Ireland claimed their first ever Test win over the All Blacks in 2016, and a first home win over New Zealand late last year.
“They have brought out the best in us for a long, long time,” Hansen said. “We enjoy playing them and that hasn’t changed because they have beaten us a couple of times. A lot of people are going to be talking about the past, but it’s what happens on Saturday that counts.”
Hansen, Schmidt, Joseph and Gatland share similar backgrounds; all showed ability as players – Joseph and Gatland were All Blacks, while Hansen and Schmidt played at provincial level.
Schmidt was a winger for Manawatu province, Hansen a centre for Canterbury, Gatland played hooker for Waikato and New Zealand, and Joseph was a back-rower for Otago, New Zealand Maori and the All Blacks.
Allfouralsomadesuccessful transitions from playing to coaching.
In an itinerant career, Gatland coached Connacht before becoming Ireland coach in 1998 and then had stints with Wasps and Waikato until he was recruited by Wales in 2007.
Schmidt was an assistant coach of New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty province, the Auckland-based Blues, and Clermont Ferand in France, and a head coach of New Zealand Schools and Leinster, where he succeeded Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, before landing the Ireland job in 2013.
Joseph retired from playing in 2001 and went on to coach New Zealand Maori before guiding the Highlanders to a first Super Rugby title. He became Japan coach in 2016.
Hansen began his coaching career with Canterbury province and was an assistant with the Crusaders before following Graham Henry as Wales head coach in 2002. He became an assistant to Henry from 2004 when Henry was All Blacks head coach and, after a failure in 2007, won the World Cup in 2011 – ending a 24-year drought.
Gatland and Joseph were players until they became coaches. Hansen worked in an abattoir and then as a police officer before gaining his first coaching break. Schmidt was a school teacher, a background shared by many successful coaches.
Former Ireland captain Brian O’driscoll said of Schmidt: “I’ve never seen a coach show such massive attention to detail or one with such a smart rugby brain.”
He’ll need it. Schmidt said the All Blacks have been the benchmark for a decade and beating them at the World Cup “would be a mountain to climb.” • Our Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup coverage is brought to you in association with Castle Water www.castlewater.co.uk