JOE SCHMIDT SAYS his relationship with Rory Best was “super important” in his decision to join Ulster Rugby as coach development advisor.
Schmidt’s appointment to the newly-created role was announced in late July, and the former Ireland head coach is on the ground with the northern province this week.
In an interview with Ulster Rugby, Schmidt offered more detail on the job, in which he will help develop coaches across the province, schools and clubs, both in-person and remotely.
“It’s not a full-time role – and that was part of the appeal, to be honest,” said Schmidt.
“I’ve been very full-time for just about 25 years as a professional coach and have been trying to peel that back a little bit and get more time with the family. I’m not on deck the whole time, but I’ve already done a fair bit online so that will continue in between my visits.
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“I’ve got two more weeks here beyond this week, and then I’m back for the whole of November and back for April next year. In between times, we’ll be online and back and forth a little bit.
“It’s a little bit investigative at the moment, just trying to find out what the current pathway is for coaches, how they’re supported, how they’re identified, and what we can do to make sure we identify the right people and give them the right support and a degree of challenge as well, because I don’t think you really grow as a coach unless there are challenges and and and you’ve got to try to work your way through them.”
Schmidt, who is regarded as one of the best coaches in the world, guided Leinster to two Heineken Cups before coaching Ireland to three Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam in 2018.
He was also named World Rugby Coach of the Year that season. More recently, Schmidt assisted in coaching the All Blacks to the 2023 World Cup final and was then Australia head coach for two years.
Asked what attracted him to this different challenge, the 60-year-old New Zealander immediately pointed to Ulster general manager Best.
“Rory best bullied me!” joked Schmidt. “No, I’ve got a lot of respect for Rory. We worked together for six years. And even before that when I was coaching Leinster, I got to know Rory reasonably well, just in the fixtures that we had and the chats around the game. Obviously he was Ireland captain for four years during the time that I was coaching.
“So that respect, and that little part of me that is connected to Ireland, if I thought or Rory thought that I could help, I thought I could find out in this window how much or what we could do to help and then and then work from there.
“I’ve been (coaching) professionally for 25 years. I don’t have any answers. I just have lots of experience and ideas and some of that might be useful.”
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'Rory Best bullied me!' - Joe Schmidt on new Ulster role
JOE SCHMIDT SAYS his relationship with Rory Best was “super important” in his decision to join Ulster Rugby as coach development advisor.
Schmidt’s appointment to the newly-created role was announced in late July, and the former Ireland head coach is on the ground with the northern province this week.
In an interview with Ulster Rugby, Schmidt offered more detail on the job, in which he will help develop coaches across the province, schools and clubs, both in-person and remotely.
“It’s not a full-time role – and that was part of the appeal, to be honest,” said Schmidt.
“I’ve been very full-time for just about 25 years as a professional coach and have been trying to peel that back a little bit and get more time with the family. I’m not on deck the whole time, but I’ve already done a fair bit online so that will continue in between my visits.
“I’ve got two more weeks here beyond this week, and then I’m back for the whole of November and back for April next year. In between times, we’ll be online and back and forth a little bit.
“It’s a little bit investigative at the moment, just trying to find out what the current pathway is for coaches, how they’re supported, how they’re identified, and what we can do to make sure we identify the right people and give them the right support and a degree of challenge as well, because I don’t think you really grow as a coach unless there are challenges and and and you’ve got to try to work your way through them.”
Schmidt, who is regarded as one of the best coaches in the world, guided Leinster to two Heineken Cups before coaching Ireland to three Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam in 2018.
He was also named World Rugby Coach of the Year that season. More recently, Schmidt assisted in coaching the All Blacks to the 2023 World Cup final and was then Australia head coach for two years.
Asked what attracted him to this different challenge, the 60-year-old New Zealander immediately pointed to Ulster general manager Best.
“Rory best bullied me!” joked Schmidt. “No, I’ve got a lot of respect for Rory. We worked together for six years. And even before that when I was coaching Leinster, I got to know Rory reasonably well, just in the fixtures that we had and the chats around the game. Obviously he was Ireland captain for four years during the time that I was coaching.
“So that respect, and that little part of me that is connected to Ireland, if I thought or Rory thought that I could help, I thought I could find out in this window how much or what we could do to help and then and then work from there.
“I’ve been (coaching) professionally for 25 years. I don’t have any answers. I just have lots of experience and ideas and some of that might be useful.”
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