Schmidt’s exit will close door on remarkable tenure as Head Coach

THE NEWS of Joe Schmidt’s departure after the 2019 World Cup broke earlier this week and his exit will bring the curtain down on a remarkable period of Irish rugby. The former Leinster Head Coach was won three Six Nations titles as Irish boss, including a Grand Slam last March. He has also presided over a period that has seen Ireland beat New Zealand for the first time ever and then repeat the trick a couple of weeks ago.

Whatever happens over the next year, Schmidt leaves Irish rugby in a much better place. The IRFU have already named current defence coach Andy Farrell as Schmidt’s successor and the former Rugby League star has huge boots to fill but murmurings coming out of the Irish camp suggest that he is the right man for the job. The IRFU certainly think so and have given Farrell a contract up to the 2023 World Cup.

Either way, Schmidt will be fondly remembered on this isle, even if he didn’t always curry favour with Munster fans by way of his selection policy. Schmidt has led this team to the top of World Rugby and that culminated with Ireland being awarded the Team of the Year gong at the World Rugby Awards, Johnny Sexton named as World Player of the Year and of course, Schmidt earning the Coach of the Year gong.

One of the biggest discussion points of the announcement of Schmidt’s exit was that it appears that he is to retire from coaching after the World Cup to focus on family commitments. That is a blow to New Zealand, where he was apparently being lined up to succeed current All Black coach, Steve Hansen. For Ireland, A big 2019 but for now, we should bask in the success of a stunning 2018.