New Zealand: Former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt to become All Blacks selector
- Published
Schmidt led Ireland at two World Cups and helped them to three Six Nations titles
Former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is to join New Zealand as a selector.
The 56-year-old, who led Ireland to two Test wins over the All Blacks, will not take up the role until after Ireland's tour of New Zealand next summer.
Schmidt said "to a degree" the timing of joining head coach Ian Foster's management team was because he did not want to be working against Ireland.
"I'm sure they appreciate the fact that I'm not that keen to get started until early August," he added.
"It'll give me a chance to sit back... we'll have a lot of Irish visitors."
Schmidt said the selection role suited him "because I'm a bit of an analyst geek as far as looking at players and how they play the game".
He will also do some work for Super Rugby franchise the Blues, where he was announced as a part-time support coach last month.
Schmidt left his role as World Rugby's director of rugby and high-performance earlier this year due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions and a desire to spend more time with his family.
All Blacks coach Foster said Schmidt's years coaching in the northern hemisphere since 2007 with Clermont, Leinster and Ireland, gave him a different perspective to his New Zealand-based counterparts.
"It's easy to see the success he's had and what I also like is that he probably sees the game slightly different to me and it's great to bring a fresh set of eyes," he said.
The New Zealand native left his role as Ireland manager in 2019 after almost seven years at the helm that included three Six Nations titles and saw them become the number one ranked team in the world.
He left following their disappointing exit from the 2019 World Cup in Japan, when they were heavily beaten by New Zealand in the quarter-finals, and was replaced by Andy Farrell.
Despite the difficult end to his tenure with Ireland, Schmidt has enjoyed an impressive coaching career, winning consecutive European Cups with Leinster before taking the international job.