PHILIP BROWNE MUST have felt he had brought the choicest zucchini to the village fair. He sat, in front of a phalanx of rugby reporters, knowing that the majority of the people in the room approved of his choice as Ireland coach.
The IRFU chief executive, without naming names, spoke of a worldwide search for a suitable candidate to replace Declan Kidney. The answer, as we all know now [or knew for some time], was right under his nose. Joe Schmidt, sitting beside him, was the outstanding choice. The unanimous choice, added Browne.
An interesting aspect of the search, where the IRFU ‘tipped the shoulders of the classiest coaches in world rugby’, is the end date of Svhmidt’s contract – the conclusion of the 2016 Six Nations. While talk of World Cup cycles is en vogue, Browne’s assertion that the Six Nations is the union’s biggest revenue generator clearly states what cup the union would prefer to challenge for. While the 46-year-old New Zealander will not have to get his own coaching ticket in place until after the summer tour, overseen by interim coach Les Kiss, to North America, a plan of recruitment is close to the final draft stage.
Browne told TheScore.ie, “We made it absolutely clear to Joe that he has a blank sheet of paper and it is up to him to fill the names in terms of his team management.”
Leinster’s scrum coach Greg Feek, with Joe Schmidt and forwards coach Jono Gibbes. (©INPHO/Dan Sheridan)
Greg Feek has been loaned out to Ireland from Leinster and the province has also seen Jason Cowman (strength & conditioning) and Colin McEntee (high performance) advance into national roles in the past year. Kiss may well impress his attacking, innovative – but far from perfect – style on Schmidt in the coming months but Gert Smal may find himself surplus to requirements. New faces are most definitely needed in the Irish set-up.
Much has been made of the possible stumbling block of the new Ireland coach having to present a strategy and selection brief to an amateur IRFU committee, something former coach Declan Kidney had to do on a regular basis. Browne said:
That is something that you guys in the media have made a huge play about. The reality is, that is a facility that was provided for Declan. The reality is that it happened at the end of each block [Six Nations, summer, November internationals] each season. The reviews and debriefs and learnings that you can get from each block of matches is taken forward into the next set of matches.”
The presentation aspect of the job may now be out of the picture and why Schmidt referred to the post interview bargaining with the union as ‘positive discussions’.
He added, “A lot of the things that have been publicised have already, partially worked through with Plan Ireland. That was a platform where the coaching staff of the provinces did get a chance to have their say… having been a part of that, I know that a lot of those [issues] have been worked through.”
