Josef Schmidt HonFRCSI (born 12 September 1965) is a New Zealand and Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach, who is the attack coach for the New Zealand national team. Schmidt coached

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

, and was an assistant coach with the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

. He joined

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

as head coach in 2010, and brought unprecedented success to the province, reaching six finals and winning four trophies in three years. He was then head coach of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

from 2013 to 2019. In six years under his leadership, Ireland won three Six Nations Championships, including a

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in 2018. Ireland were ranked number 1 in the

World Rugby Rankings The World Rugby Rankings (formerly the IRB Rankings) is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nation ...

for the first time in their history in 2019, and recorded their first-ever wins over

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Early life and career

Schmidt was born in Kawakawa, Northland, New Zealand, and brought up in Woodville - population 1470 - near Palmerston North. He went to Tararua College in Pahiatua. After training as a school teacher, Schmidt played rugby in New Zealand, including 29 games in the provincial championship for Manawatu. In 1991, during a gap year, Schmidt travelled to Ireland with his wife Kellie to take up an offer by

Foras Áiseanna Saothair An Foras Áiseanna Saothair (), referred to in English as the Training and Employment Authority and commonly known as FÁS (), was a state agency in Ireland with responsibility for assisting those seeking employment. It was established in Janu ...

(FÁS) to coach the underage teams (called the minis) of Mullingar RFC in the Midlands region and he also played amateur rugby in the Irish lower leagues. He then returned to New Zealand to take up a teaching position. He taught English and/or coached at Palmerston North Boys' High, Napier Boys' High School and Tauranga Boys' College, where he was deputy principal.

Coaching career

New Zealand provincial rugby

Schmidt took up the option to coach New Zealand Schools, before leaving teaching to coach

from 2003 to 2004. While at the Steamers he won the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

defeating

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on 15 August 2004. The Steamers had one successful defence of the title before losing to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. Schmidt joined the

as assistant coach from 2004 to 2007 where, in his final year, they were knocked out in the semi-final.

Clermont Auvergne

Schmidt moved to Europe and joined

in 2007 as backs coach under

Vern Cotter Vern is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Vernon, Lavern or other names. People named Vern include: * Vernon Vern Bakalich (1929–2015), New Zealand rugby league player * Verdi Vern Barberis (1928–2005), Australian ...

who he had previously worked with in Auckland. The side finished

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

runners-up twice in 2008 & 2009. In 2010 the side finally won the competition, after 11 appearances in the final. In Europe, Clermont made less of an impact in the competition than in the Top 14. Between 2007 and 2009, Clermont failed to progress past the group stages, but during the

2009–10 Heineken Cup The 2009–10 Heineken Cup was the 15th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2009 and ended on 22 May 2010 with the final at Stade ...

, Schmidt's last season with Clermont, Clermont advanced to the quarter-finals, but lost to Leinster 29–28.

Leinster

Schmidt took over as

head coach from

Michael Cheika Michael Cheika (born 4 March 1967) is an Australian rugby union and rugby league coach, and former rugby union player. He is currently head coach of Argentina in rugby union and Lebanon in rugby league. Cheika was the coach of the Australia r ...

for the 2010–11 season. Under his leadership Leinster won the 2011 Heineken Cup, after beating

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

33–22, and lost to Munster in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

Grand Final in May 2011. In the 2011–2012 season, he coached Leinster to a second

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

final, losing to the Ospreys 31–30, and led the team to the 2012 Heineken Cup Final, where Leinster retained their title beating Ulster 42–14. In his final year in charge, he coached Leinster to win the

Amlin Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

and

titles, beating Stade Français 34–13 and Ulster 24–18 respectively. He ended his Leinster tenure with an overall record of 77 wins from 99 matches, which included a 75% win rate in the Pro 12 and an 85% win rate in Europe.

Ireland national team

2013–2015

The IRFU announced on 29 April 2013 that Schmidt would leave his position as Leinster coach to take over the

coaching position left vacant by

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year aw ...

. Schmidt's first contract would run until the end of the 2015–16 season. His first game in charge of Ireland was against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

on 9 November 2013 - Ireland won the match 40–9 The following week, Ireland were convincingly beaten by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, losing 32–15. However, on 24 November, Ireland had a 19–0 lead against

but went on to lose by 24–22 after

Aaron Cruden Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 8 January 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Chiefs and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is first five-eighth (fly half). Early life Crud ...

scored an overtime conversion for New Zealand. On 15 March 2014, Schmidt's Ireland side defeated France in Paris 22–20 to lift the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championshi ...

title, his first silverware with the nation. His only loss was to England at Twickenham 13–10. In June 2014, Ireland claimed their first ever test series win over Argentina during their 2014 Argentine test series. The first test, marked Ireland's first ever win over Argentina on Argentine soil, winning 29–17. In November 2014 during the

end-of-year rugby union internationals The autumn internationals, November internationals, end-of-year tests, and spring internationals/tour for Australia and New Zealand, are men's rugby union Test matches that are contested around November each year. It is organised by World Rugby. Te ...

, Ireland defeated

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

to move to third in the

. In December 2014, Schmidt was named as the

Philips Sports Manager of the Year The Philips Sports Manager of the Year is an award for the person considered the most outstanding Irish sports manager or coach of a particular year. The award is contested by the twelve winners of the year's Philips Sports Manager of the Month ...

and named as the manager of the Year at the 2014 RTÉ Sports awards. On 1 March 2015, Ireland won their tenth test match in a row after a 19–9 win against England in the

2015 Six Nations Championship The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested b ...

, equalling an Irish record set in 2003. That run came to an end in the next match on 15 March when Ireland lost 23–16 against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

, a defeat that ended Ireland's hopes of winning the

. During the final week of the 2015 Six Nations, Ireland, England, France and Wales were all in the chance to claim the title. With Wales' 61–20 win over Italy in the first fixture of the week, not only could France not claim the title, Ireland needed to beat

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

by more than 21 points to knock Wales out of the equation and keep their chance of retaining the title alive - Ireland later recorded a 40–10 victory. The final match saw England and France play at Twickenham, and England needed to beat France by 27 points or more to claim the title. However, England only won by 20 points, 55–35, which saw Ireland claim their title for a second consecutive year. On 22 July 2015, Schmidt extended his contract with Ireland until 2017. He became an Irish citizen on 2 September 2015. Ireland opened their

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

campaign on 19 September with a 50–7 win against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and followed that up a week later with a 44–10 win against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. In their third match of the World Cup they faced

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and won the game 16–9 to book their place in the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. In their final match of the World Cup pool stage they faced

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and won the game 24–9 to top pool D. On 18 October 2015, Ireland lost by 43–20 to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the

Quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

2016–2019

Ireland finished in third place in the

2016 Six Nations Championship The 2016 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2016 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by The Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. I ...

with two wins against Italy (58–15) and Scotland (35–25), a draw against Wales (16–16) and two losses to France (10–9) and England (21–10). In June 2016, Schmidt led Ireland to their first ever away victory over South Africa when the Irish won the first test of their

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by th ...

26–20. This was despite playing with only 14 players on the field for more than 50 minutes of the game when

CJ Stander Christiaan Johan Stander (born 5 April 1990) is a South African-Irish former rugby union player. Stander's career began in his native South Africa, where he played for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup between 2010 and 2012 and for the Bulls in ...

was red-carded in the 22nd minute. In the second test, Ireland led South Africa 19–3 at half time, but 29 unanswered points in the second half saw South Africa draw level in the series. The final test saw South Africa clinch the series, with a 19–13 win over the Irish. On 24 October 2016, Schmidt signed a new contract with the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

to continue as Ireland head coach until the end of the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. On 5 November 2016, in Ireland's first match of the Autumn Internationals, Ireland defeated New Zealand for the very first time in a test match, winning 40–29. The following week, they defeated Canada in Dublin 52–21, before playing New Zealand again, on this occasion, losing 21–9. On 26 November, Ireland completed a rare triple-win, defeating Australia 27–24, to become the first team since England in 2003, to beat Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in a single year.

New Zealand Rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

offered Schmidt a coaching position within the New Zealand set-up by replacing Wayne Smith and thereby offering him a path of becoming the future New Zealand Head Coach following the departure of their current head coach Steve Hansen, however, he rejected this offer and signed a two-year extension to stay with Ireland up to the conclusion of Ireland's participation in the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. During the 2017 Six Nations Championship, Ireland ended England's 18-match unbeaten run when they defeated them in Dublin 13–9 in the final week of the Championship, which secured Ireland a second-place finish. This came despite a first round loss to Scotland 27–22 and a 22–9 loss to Wales in Cardiff. Schmidt later led a depleted Ireland team on a victorious June tour winning all three games convincingly; 55–19 win over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

followed by a 2–0 series win over

, winning 50–22 and 35–13. During the 2017 Autumn Internationals, Ireland won all three games, against South Africa (38–3) a record victory,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

(23–20), and Argentina (28–19) to move up to third in the

. On March 10, 2018, Ireland claimed the 2018 Six Nations Championship with a round to go, and rose to second place in the world rankings. This came, following victories over France (15–13), Italy (56–19), Wales (37–27) and Scotland (28–8). Their Championship was complete with a 24–15 victory over England, their first since 2010 at Twickenham, in the final round to claim their first Grand Slam since 2009. In June 2018, he led his side to a 2–1 series victory over Australia, their first series win in Australia since 1979. On 17 November 2018, in the end-of-year internationals, Ireland beat New Zealand for the second time (and the first time on Irish soil). Following this victory, speculation was rife that Schmidt would not renew his contract as Ireland's head coach and that he would put his family first and return to New Zealand. On 25 November 2018, at the

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

Awards which were hosted in Monaco, Joe Schmidt was awarded the World Rugby Coach of the Year. He is only the second Irish Rugby Football Union coach to receive the award (the first Irish Rugby Football Union Coach to win it was

back in 2009). He was not present at the ceremony and Ireland Rugby Vice-Captain

Peter O'Mahony Peter O'Mahony (born 17 September 1989) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup and Ireland internationally. During his career, O'Mahony has captained Presentatio ...

accepted the award on Schmidt's behalf. At the same awards, Ireland was awarded

World Rugby Team of the Year The World Rugby Team of the Year is awarded by the World Rugby in the spring each year. From 2004 to 2007, the award was called the IRB International Team of the Year. In 2017 the New Zealand Black Ferns became the first women's team to win the awa ...

and Irish

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Johnny Sexton Jonathan Jeremiah Sexton (born 11 July 1985) is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Leinster Rugby and Ireland, and he also captains both teams. He represented the British & Irish Lions in both 2013 and 2017 and has scored o ...

walked away with

World Rugby Player of the Year The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. The award is presented to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". Th ...

. On 26 November 2018 Schmidt announced his retirement from coaching after the

. He began his final year as Ireland coach with a 32–20 loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 2 February in the first round of the 2019 Six Nations Championship. This was Ireland's first home loss since 2016, and their first loss to England at the Aviva Stadium since 2013. Ireland returned to winning ways against

the following week, winning 22–13 before back to back wins over

and

and defeat away to Grand Slam winning

on 16 March to finish in third place in the championship. Schmidt guided Ireland to World number 1 in the

for the first time in their history when his Irish teams defeated Wales back-to-back, home and away, in the

2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

. At the

, Ireland began with a 27–3 win against Scotland on 22 September before losing to

a week later 19–12 in the

Shizuoka Stadium is a sports stadium used primarily for football. The stadium is in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, although the stadium itself is merely the centrepiece of the larger Ogasayama Sports Park which extends into neighbouring Kakegawa. ...

. Wins over

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

by 35-0 and

by 47-5 set up a

quarter-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against

on 19 October. In Schmidt's last game in charge, New Zealand won 46–14 to eliminate Ireland from the World Cup at the quarter-final stage. Schmidt later analysed that not prioritising the 2019 Six Nations Championship ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup subsequently resulted in Ireland underperforming in the Rugby World Cup. Former Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell became the new head coach of the Irish team in January 2020.

Technical advisor and World Rugby

In February 2020, Schmidt worked with the Spanish national team for a day in advance of their Rugby Europe Championship match with

and he was due to co-coach the

Classic All Blacks The Classic All Blacks is a rugby union team made up of former New Zealand Rugby (Men's) representatives. It is not an official national team of New Zealand. First put together in 2007, the team has played Japan three times, English Premiership ...

team in their match against Spain in May 2020. However, the match was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Schmidt was appointed

's director of rugby and high performance in October 2020, a newly created position that included responsibility on issues related to player welfare, training and education. Schmidt resigned a year later from this position to spend more time with his family in New Zealand.

Return to New Zealand

Schmidt returned to the

, joining the coaching staff in a part-time supportive role to

Leon MacDonald Leon Raymond MacDonald (born 21 December 1977) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer, and now head coach for the Auckland Blues rugby team, who played 56 tests for the national team, the All Blacks. He played as a first five-eighth (f ...

for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, following the departure of

Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. He play ...

. He was cited as being the main influence behind the Blues' appearance in their first Super Rugby final since 2003. They were defeated by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

21-7 at

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

to finish the season as runners-up.

New Zealand national team

In late 2021, it was announced that Schmidt would take up the position of selector for the New Zealand national team following the tour by Ireland to New Zealand in 2022. Following failed

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

tests for New Zealand head coach Ian Foster and his assistants

John Plumtree John Plumtree is a professional rugby union coach and former first class provincial rugby player. He was previously the head coach for the Hurricanes and the , which competes in the Super Rugby and Currie Cup competitions. As a player Plumtree ...

and Scott McLeod, Schmidt was called in to coach New Zealand ahead of their first test against Ireland. On August 17, 2022, it was announced that Schmidt would become an integral part of the All Blacks' coaching setup, assuming the role of attack coach.

Ireland head coaching record by opponent

''Updated as of 19 October 2019''

International honours

* Six Nations Championship **Winner: 2014, 2015, 2018 *

**Winner: 2018 *

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

**Winner: 2018 *

Millennium Trophy The Millennium Trophy () is a rugby union award contested annually by England and Ireland as part of the Six Nations Championship. It was initiated in 1988 as part of Dublin's millennial celebrations. The trophy has the shape of a horned Viking ...

**Winner: 2015, 2017, 2018 *

Centenary Quaich The Centenary Quaich (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Cuach nan Ceud Bliadhna''; Irish: ''Corn na Céad Bliain'') is an international rugby union award contested annually by Ireland and Scotland as part of the Six Nations Championship. A "Quaich" is a Gae ...

**Winner: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 *

**Winner: 2014, 2018 *Manager of the Year - RTÉ Sports awards **Winner: 2014 *

* World Rugby Coach of the Year **Winner: 2018

Club Honours

''(as assistant coach)'' *

**Winner: 2004 (1 successful defence)

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

**Winner: 2011, 2012 *

**Winner: 2013 **Runners-up: 2011, 2012 *

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

**Winners: 2013 Clermont Auvergne ''(as assistant coach)'' *

**Winner: 2010 **Runners-up: 2008, 2009

Coaching approach

Schmidt is known for analysing his opposition closely, for short, sharp training sessions, and for simple game strategies based on pressure, territory, intelligent defence with aggressive line speed, and rehearsed attacking plays. He also sometimes limits offloading if he feels his side will not win the collisions.

Personal life

On 2 September 2015, Schmidt was granted

Irish citizenship Irish nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Republic of Ireland. The primary law governing these regulations is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which came into force on 17 July 1956. R ...

. His son Luke was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of four and Schmidt has become involved with

Epilepsy Ireland Epilepsy Ireland, known as Brainwave – The Irish Epilepsy Association prior to 7 February 2013, is a charity in Ireland who, among a wide variety of objectives, provide support, information and advice to people with epilepsy. They were founded in ...

. In recognition of Schmidt's high-profile advocacy for epilepsy services, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (HonFRCSI) in May 2019. Schmidt missed the preparations for the 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match with

in Dublin to be by the bedside of his mother as she died. He later said at a press conference in Japan, when asked of his future plans after the World Cup, "we'll probably stay in Ireland for some time. We've become pretty settled there" and "A big motivator for me to get back o New Zealandwas family and unfortunately we lost our mum recently." However, Schmidt moved with his family back to New Zealand in 2020, as he explained in the best interests of his youngest son Luke, who was struggling with his epilepsy under the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions imposed by the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

.Townsend, Michelle. (12 February 2021). Former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt tells of joy over becoming a Grandfather for the first time. RSVPLive. Retrieved 18 February 2021

References

External links

Profile @ Clermont Auvergne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Joe 1965 births Living people New Zealand people of German descent People from Kawakawa, New Zealand People from Woodville, New Zealand New Zealand schoolteachers Bay of Plenty rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand expatriates in France New Zealand expatriates in Ireland Naturalised citizens of Ireland Ireland national rugby union team coaches Leinster Rugby non-playing staff People educated at Tararua College Irish people of German descent Irish people of New Zealand descent