Joe Schmidt not expecting hero’s welcome on Ireland return

DUBLIN – Australia coach Joe Schmidt is not expecting any “love bombs” when he returns to Lansdowne Road, where he engineered many victories for Ireland, but he is still the man Johnny Sexton once said taught the Irish “how to win”.

The 59-year-old former teacher won many plaudits for his coaching of Leinster and Ireland and on Nov 30 hopes he can claim a win over the Irish.

Ireland coach Andy Farrell says New Zealander Schmidt deserves “all the accolades” he receives because of “what he did for Irish rugby”.

“He’s the most successful coach in Irish rugby when you look at his time overall in Dublin,” said Farrell, who was his assistant from 2016 to 2019. “That experience that I’ve gained under Joe, seeing how he does it on the inside is invaluable.”

Schmidt first came to global rugby’s attention when he was assistant coach from 2007 to 2010 to compatriot Vern Cotter at French Top 14 side Clermont.

“Joe has a good brain, he can analyse the game but also the players,” Cotter told AFP. “Their traits, skill sets, weaknesses and strengths.

“He uses that to both analyse the opposition for opportunities but also his own team to improve.”

Those abilities bore fruit with Leinster, landing successive European Cups, which secured him the job with a floundering Ireland side in 2013.

He engineered a remarkable turnaround, transforming their fortunes and instilling a different attitude.

Three Six Nations titles, including the 2018 Grand Slam, followed, as well as a historic home win over New Zealand that year.

However, the All Blacks brought the curtain down on his reign less than a year later with a 46-14 thrashing in the World Cup quarter-finals.

The manner of the 2019 defeat left its mark on Schmidt and he admitted he felt “a little bit broken”.

Despite his successful stint with Ireland, he is not expecting a universally welcoming reception this weekend in the city in which he still owns a house and where his daughter lives.

“I’m really excited about getting back, I don’t know about being love-bombed,” he said.

“I coached against them a couple of times with the All Blacks and I think I was pretty unpopular there. I’ve swopped sides again and there’ll be a degree of unpopularity.”

Schmidt was appointed Australia coach in January but oversaw a disappointing Rugby Championship campaign in which the Wallabies lost five of six matches.

But there have been signs this autumn that Australia could be on the way back to being a rugby force, with their loss to Scotland on Nov 24 following impressive victories over Wales and England. AFP