Paul O’Connell opens up on Joe Schmidt’s lingering influence on Ireland and the key ‘principles’ the astute coach lives by
Split with Paul O'Connell and Joe Schmidt
Ireland assistant coach Paul O’Connell admits that Joe Schmidt still has an influence on his side as they prepare to face the Wallabies in their final Test of the year this weekend.
O’Connell was coached by Schmidt during the latter stages of his career with the national team which was roughly halfway through the New Zealander’s tenure with the side. It was a period that saw Ireland rise up rugby’s hierarchy and take their place near the top of the world.
Schmidt’s stint with Ireland came after a successful period with Leinster making the transition to Test rugby much easier for the coach and O’Connell admits some of his ideals still linger in the set-up.
Still influential
The New Zealander led Ireland to the side’s first win over his home country in history after a whopping 111 years. O’Connell was part of that side and the respect for his former boss is clear as day.
“He was very successful with Leinster and Ireland and probably still has a bit of an influence over things we do in here in terms of how we play the game,” said O’Connell.
“I enjoyed it [playing for Schmidt], I was an older player when he took over, I was probably hanging on a little bit and I was able to find my niche in what he was doing. I enjoyed how we played, but I probably enjoyed how he coached more than anything.
“He’s a teacher, and he had a lot of teaching principles in how he coached. I played nine times against New Zealand as a player and failed to beat them and he was part of that coaching staff that broke that duck [in 2016] and did it again in 2018.”
Lesson learnt
Planning and communication were the main takeaways from Schmidt for O’Connell in the coaching space.
“He’s a teacher and probably uses a lot of teaching principals in his coaching,” added the 45-year-old.
“He’d always have a clear plan and a clear way of delivering that plan and would have clear language.
“That’s probably the biggest thing I learned from him. The language he used all the time, repetitive is the wrong word – you weren’t the same thing different ways, you were very clear on what was expected of you as a team and in your position.
“He kept things simple as well and I’d always be trying to copy that. He doesn’t let people do things wrong. He’d be just as high in his standards if you were doing a walkthrough as if you were on the field.
“A lot of Irish coaches have tried to take some bits and pieces into their coaching and I probably have as well.”
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Picking up the pieces
After Ireland Schmidt served as a consultant in the All Blacks set-up for 2022 and 2023 before taking on the Wallabies role made even more daunting by the mess Eddie Jones made in his short stint down under.
The coach has quickly made an impact underlining his quality with Wallabies going from being kicked out of the World Cup in the group stages under Jones to beating England at Twickenham in just over a year.
“To go to Twickenham and score as many points as they did [to beat England], to play the game in the way they did, to keep coming back the way they did shows where their belief and resolve has gotten to.
“There will always be days like Scotland for every team. For us, it is a big challenge and part of the challenge is knowing what they bring because Joe has coached us before as well.
“We know how clear he can be and that clarity allows players to play with a lot of intent and a lot of physicality, so it is a big challenge.”
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