‘Too much detail, too much tension’: The bitter ending to Schmidt’s Ireland story

“There was no issue with what we were doing when we were successful for so long under Joe,” Trimble said. “It was only the last six months [of his tenure] and then people kind of overthink and kind of retrospectively say, ‘Oh, you know, maybe how we should have behaved [differently]’.

“But there was no problem with it for three years, which to me, is a little bit of kind of hindsight and thinking, but that’s because I responded well to the environment.”

Former Ireland and Leinster five-eighth Ian Madigan played under Schmidt for club and country and agrees with Trimble’s assessment that the coach’s attention to detail did not suffocate Irish rugby, but instead breathed new life into it. Madigan, like Trimble, decided to lean into Schmidt’s preparation as the key to unlocking new levels of performance in himself and his teammates.

“Initially with Leinster and Ireland, players would have felt a bit overawed with the detail,” Madigan said. “But the realisation was that as players, we needed to get to that level of detail to be successful, and he was the guy who was going to drive us to be that detail-oriented team and drive us to success.

“So like the extra study that you had to do on video analysis and reviewing training and reviewing the opposition, and you know what ball a player would carry with, or what foot they would favour stepping off – that attention to detail was what was needed to lift ourselves ahead of the opposition.

“And you know his record speaks for itself: the European [Cup] wins, the Six Nations wins, beating the All Blacks [in 2016], it was just transformative for Leinster rugby and Irish rugby.”

Schmidt’s comeback story

At last year’s World Cup in France, Ireland once again were knocked out by New Zealand, with Schmidt playing a significant role as All Blacks assistant coach.

The level of detail he had been criticised for after Ireland’s exit in Japan was there for all to see in how the All Blacks attacked Ireland’s breakdown and manipulated their defence four years later. Former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman, now one of the country’s premier analysts, says Schmidt’s coaching qualities have helped galvanise a Wallabies team struggling for confidence

“There’s no coach I’ve ever met that has such deep knowledge of the game and is able to coach it. Honestly, that’s it,” Jackman said.

“He knows the rule-book better than the referees, and he’s not afraid to tell them, either … obviously he reviewed that last year with Ireland. He reviewed how maybe he overstepped the mark in terms of intensity and scrutiny.

“His footprints were all over that All Blacks team [in 2023], particularly the win against Ireland in the quarter-final. Any team that Joe Schmidt is involved with is a smarter rugby team … Australia, they just look so smart.”

A Lions appetiser in Dublin

On Saturday, Schmidt will return to Lansdowne Road, where he enjoyed so much success, for the first time as an opposition head coach. The Wallabies’ loss to Scotland last week has been dismissed as a minor setback by the Ireland players and coaches, who are anticipating Schmidt will have something special up his sleeve in Dublin.

Schmidt will also face off against Farrell, his former assistant, who has enjoyed his own success with Ireland as a head coach. Ireland players have consistently spoken about Farrell’s personal touch, such as inviting family and friends to visit Ireland’s training camp to create a more relaxed environment. Similarly, within the Wallabies squad, Schmidt has created an infinitely happier camp after the disastrous tenure of Eddie Jones.

Farrell will also take charge of next year’s British and Irish Lions tour, with Saturday’s Test in Dublin the first tactical battle between the two coaches. Five years after Schmidt’s departure, the stinging criticism from some quarters of Irish rugby has been replaced by an almost unanimously positive view of his contributions. His time in Ireland is being viewed far more favourably in the fullness of time.

Former world player of the year and Ireland breakaway Josh van der Flier played in the World Cup quarter-final defeat to the All Blacks last year and experienced Schmidt’s ability to come back to haunt his former colleagues. He expects the Wallabies side to end their spring tour with a statement performance.

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“We know Joe very well – they’ll be well organised,” van der Flier said. “Of course, we all know that. And I was always on the side of his trick plays, the way he sets up the team to beat the opposition.

“But I’m used to being on his side of it, so it’ll be a bit different, I’m sure we’ll be expecting a few good moves and trick plays. He was always very, very good at that and a well-drilled side as well. Then, obviously, I think [Australia’s] individuals as well, they’ve a lot of really good players, all throughout their team, so it’ll be a big challenge.”

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