Schmidt to pursue world’s best

Joe Schmidt will be given carte blanche to appoint his own backroom staff and, like Declan Kidney before him, the new Ireland coach will be told to scour the world for the best and brightest rugby minds to assist him over the next three years.

Kidney’s ability to attract South African Gert Smal and Australian Les Kiss into his brains trust back in 2008 was considered a major coup at the time and played a key part in Ireland claiming the Grand Slam in the ticket’s first season.

The contracts of those men who worked alongside Kidney this year — Kiss, Smal, Anthony Foley and Mark Tainton — will expire at the end of June and IRFU chief executive Philip Browne said Schmidt would be working off a “blank sheet of paper” in building his backroom team.