Joe Schmidt is as clued in as they come.
Schmidt has been in the Ireland job for four years now and, during that time, Munster have punched above their weight then struggled and are now well on their way to becoming a force again.
The Kiwi is well aware that a strong Munster side can only benefit the Irish national team. To that end, it is no surprise to hear how much of a part he played in convincing two talented players – Tadhg Beirne and Chris Farrell – to return to these shores and get behind the Munster cause.
In fact, Schmidt has had a hand in JJ Hanrahan and James Hart also wearing red this season. “I’ve spoken with all of them at different times,” he said earlier this year.
During his recent, wide-ranging interview on The Hard Yards, Beirne spoke of a conversation with Schmidt that helped convince him a move from Scarlets to Munster would help his Ireland chances. He said:
“Joe Schmidt gave me a phone call recently enough and he said he had pushed for it [the move] because I’m being watched and I’m on the radar. That’s all I can ask for.”
He adds, “I wasn’t expecting the call. It came up [on my screen] as an Irish number and I answered the phone. It was Joe. I was a bit shell-shocked but he had previously said he’d try calling me on my Irish number, but I hadn’t turned that phone on in months.”
Beirne will be part of the Munster squad from the start of next season – plenty of time to get himself in the mix for World Cup 2019.
Schmidt was ‘always working away’ regarding Hanrahan returning to his home province and had several chats with former Grenoble and Racing scrum-half James Hart. As for Farrell, himself and Schmidt talked rugby over a friendly cup of coffee. The powerful centre told us:
“I went home and I did speak to Joe in the off-season and I went to meet him in pre-season [2016/17] for a pretty informal chat. He thought it was a good idea to consider moving home.
“[From] the start of this season, and throughout, I’ve had a bit of contact with Joe. He has analysed quite a few of my games and he has sent me through lots of advice from games – like ‘That was well done’ or ‘here is what you could have done here to improve’.
“That sort of environment where someone is giving you feedback – where an international coach is taking the time to give you feedback – I want to be part of that. It definitely helps with making the decision to come home to a really professional environment.”
Schmidt is often accused of Leinster-bias when it comes to team and squad selections. There may have been an element of that in the past as, for tight calls, he would have been forgiven for selecting the Leinster players he had previously worked with. He could trust them and, for the Kiwi, trust is key.
However, the longer he has got into the job the more he has recognised the need for each province to feed into the national team. In High Performance Director David Nucifiora, he has a keen ally.
Munster’s revival in fortunes has an awful lot to do with the spirit and drive of the squad and the coaching team that have properly harnessed that. Schmidt is definitely helping, though, and there is no denying it.
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