Rugby Australia turn to Kiwi Joe Schmidt as Wallabies coach to replace Eddie Jones
Rugby Australia is once again poised to take a gamble on a Kiwi to save the Wallabies, with New Zealand’s Joe Schmidt emerging as the preferred candidate.
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Rugby Australia is once again poised to gamble the house on a Kiwi to resurrect the Wallabies after last year’s disastrous World Cup.
There is still no official confirmation coming from Moore Park yet because the deal has not been finalised but sources have confirmed New Zealand’s Joe Schmidt is the preferred candidate.
There were also reports that senior players had been briefed about the pending appointment of Schmidt.
That’s no surprise at all because Rugby Australia has long held a high opinion of Schmidt, who has a sound reputation as a great mentor for developing teams in need - and right now, the Wallabies need all the help they can get.
A former schoolteacher who was overlooked for the top jobs in his homeland, Schmidt transformed Ireland into the No. 1 ranked team in the world, leading them to three Six Nations titles as well as historic wins over all the southern hemisphere giants.
He was instrumental in helping unite the Irish provinces for the national cause under a centralised system which has been suggested for Australia.
But Schmidt also had a reputation for coming up short in the biggest tournaments after failing to take Ireland past the quarter-finals when he was in charge at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
In 2019, Ireland went into the global showpiece with genuine hopes of winning but suffered an embarrassing loss to Japan in the pool phase.
They were later thrashed 46-14 thrashing to New Zealand in the quarter-finals, prompting an Irish review into the World Cup flop that was highly critical of Schmidt.
More recently, he was the All Blacks assistant at the 2023 World Cup, where the Kiwis were beaten by a solitary point in the final against South Africa.
Although Schmidt was the favourite to land the job, Michael Cheika, Stephen Larkham and Dan McKellar had also been linked with the role, and had a lot of supporters because they are all Aussies.
Two Kiwis have coached the Wallabies before - Robbie Deans and Dave Rennie - with their stints both ending in tears, so there are plenty of sceptics out there.
Rennie was sacked just months before last year’s World Cup and replaced by Jones, who proved to be a disaster before walking out on the Wallabies and accepting a new offer in Japan.
No team has ever won the World Cup with a foreign coach in charge and with the Wallabies at rock bottom and needing to rebuild quickly before the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour, the temptation to go with another Australian must have been strong.
But newly appointed chair Dan Herbert gave an insight into the direction RA was heading he said he had no problem with a Kiwi taking over the reins.
“I think what matters is you’ve got to get the best candidate and the best fit for the group and the position that they’re in,” Herbert said.
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Originally published as Rugby Australia turn to Kiwi Joe Schmidt as Wallabies coach to replace Eddie Jones
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