MULLINGAR RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

BUILDING A COMMUNITY SINCE 1925.

MULLINGAR RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

BUILDING A COMMUNITY SINCE 1925.

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JOE SCHMIDT TO RETIRE FROM COACHING AFTER WORLD CUP 2019

November 28, 2018

”It’s time to concentrate on my Family”  - Joe Schmidt will leave his role as Irish Rugby Head Coach following the 2019 World Cup and will be replaced by Andy Farrell.


Joe Schmidt's decision to leave his role as Ireland coach after next year's Rugby World Cup was well-flagged, but the revelation that he will retire from coaching altogether was a bombshell few outside his closest circle expected.

The IRFU confirmed yesterday that Englishman Andy Farrell will be promoted from his position of assistant coach at the end of the team's run in Japan when Schmidt and his family are expected to return to New Zealand.

"I guess I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to working. I tend to be a little bit of a workaholic and so if there's a competitive advantage that I can find that I can help players attain, then I'm going to be looking as hard as I possibly can," he said.

"That means that I'm out of the house a fair bit or even at home I'm plugging away, looking at things with a microscope. So that's probably a character flaw."

"In conversations with Joe, you got a clear sense that this was a very tough decision for him knowing how much he enjoys working with this group of coaches and players but it is a decision that Joe, Kellie and the kids have made as a family and that is to be respected.

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