In a surprise move, Joe Schmidt has revealed his plans to speak with former coach Eddie Jones prior to officially beginning his tenure with the Wallabies.
The 58-year-old will step into the head coaching position for Australia next month, taking over from Jones after the horrific World Cup disaster of 2023.
Schmidt’s reign begins on March 1 but he is already laying the foundations for turning the green and gold around. His first Test in charge will be on home soil against Wales in July.
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In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, the former Ireland coach explained his initial trepidation towards the Wallabies job, and why he believes it’s necessary to get the opinion of the two most recent coaches in Jones and Dave Rennie.
“You know when Peter Horne got given this job [with Rugby Australia], he’s a mate of mine, and he asked me if I’d put my name in there,” Schmidt said.
“I’ll admit I took a bit of convincing but, you know, my wife, I think she gets sick of me at home or something, but she’s happy enough.
“I’ve had a number of conversations with Dave Rennie, so that was great. Eddie messaged me, and I’m going to chat to Eddie, which will be good as well.
“I’m coming across here and I’ve flipped the lens as best I can, from trying to exploit their weaknesses I can see having coached with the All Blacks for the last 18 months, but also trying to see what’s the best of who we can be.”
The other key figure that Schmidt has plans to discuss the Wallabies with is forrmer captain Michael Hooper, who fell out of favour under Jones and is now pursuing a career in rugby sevens.
Despite the past experiences with the now-former boss, Schmidt believes it’s crucial to get inside the mind of the 32-year-old, who captained the national side on a record 68 occasions before being axed entirely for last year’s World Cup.
”I was talking to Michael Hooper briefly … which was great, and he’s a champion bloke,” Schmidt said.
“Even when I was coaching against him for so many years, he was a champion bloke, even though he was a total pain in the neck because he is such a good player.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him and just chatting to him about the mindset at the moment of players and I think there’s a real keenness [from players] to get back into it.
“If you’ve had a bad experience, the best way to bury it, at least a little bit, is to have a new experience and to have something else to build toward. I’m sure those players are building toward the Super Rugby season with a lot of motivation now to be able to best bury the World Cup experience, which they didn’t enjoy.”
This year’s Super Rugby will begin on February 23, with Schmidt publicy expressing his desire to see Aussie players shine in the competition prior to the Wales fixtures.