Former Ireland and Leinster Rugby head coach Joe Schmidt is in line for a job at World Rugby.
The Times report that Schmidt is on World Rugby’s shortlist to become a new director of rugby and high performance position. This would mean Schmidt would oversee the management of match officials, interactions with coaches and supervise high performance development in second tier rugby nations. Schmidt was to take up the position he would have to take a cut in his salary from that at Ireland. In his final few seasons at Ireland Schmidt was earning up to €1 million a year.
As we know Schmidt is a fantastic coach having spent 6 years at the helm over Ireland. He has also at Bay of Plenty as well as at the Blues where he was an assistant coach. However, in 2006 Schmidt moved to Clermont in France where he operated as assistant coach to Vern Cotter. Schmidt then moved to Leinster in 2010 to take up the mantle as Head coach. He a remarkable stint at Leinster, leading them to a Pro12 title and two Champions Cup titles. The Kiwi then took on the role as Ireland national team head coach in 2013.
An announcement on who will get the job is expected in mid September. The role was set to be made due to some poor decisions from referees at the Rugby World Cup in last year and the issues with high tackling. Schmidt has said that he would be taking time out from coaching but a return to rugby in some capacity was always on the cards and this role might suit much better than another high-profile coaching gig.
