Leinster have no ‘Plan B’ if Schmidt exits for Ireland job

Leinster have confirmed there is no ‘Plan B’ in position in the event that Joe Schmidt is diverted from his role with the province and into the national hotseat vacated by Declan Kidney.

The Kiwi is clearly the best qualified man for the job of taking Ireland forward given his track record stretching back to a coaching bow with Bay of Plenty, through his time as assistant with Auckland Blues and Clermont Auvergne and on to his current posting with Leinster where he has won two Heineken Cups.

Ewen McKenzie remains favourite with most bookmakers but Schmidt’s intimate knowledge of an Irish professional system which remains unique in world rugby is another obvious advantage even if he has 14 months to run on his current contract.

“The contingency plan as it stands is that Joe’s contract is up at the end of June 2014 so there is a contingency plan in terms of that,” said Leinster team manager Guy Easterby yesterday.

“Ideally, we would like Joe to stay on longer but he will have a decision to make then in terms of what he wants to do and where he wants to be but, in the short-term, there is no contingency plan because this is just conjecture at the moment.

“We are just working away and, as far as we are concerned, Joe is with us until June of 2014.”

As Easterby added, there isn’t much in the way of an alternative for the province apart from letting events take their course. The only alternative is a non-runner: contacting a handful of potential successors and beginning the conversation by pointing out there may or not be a vacancy.

Whatever the outcome, it remains a less-than-ideal backdrop for a Leinster side attempting to get their heads around a first outing in the Amlin Challenge Cup against Wasps at Adams Park tomorrow evening.

The timing of the IRFU’s announcement was particularly inopportune coming as it did in a European quarter-final week where three provinces are in action and on the afternoon before both Leinster and Munster were due to handle press conferences. It was hardly surprising then that yesterday’s Q&A in Dublin was dominated by Kidney’s departure, theories as to his possible successor and wider issues on the prospective merits and demerits on the Irish professional system in its current incarnation.

So, a distraction? “There hasn’t really been much talk about it,” said captain Leo Cullen.

“There has been a little bit of ‘oh, there is going to be a new Ireland coach’ chat going on but I don’t know if people are necessarily connecting the dots with Joe.

“Like, it is not going to affect us this season with Joe even if he was to move on or whatever the case may be. It is not going to affect the next potentially eight-week block this season. ”That is a very short amount of time for us to focus on. If we don’t win this weekend we have two more weekends free at the end of the season so we just need to keep winning games.”

It was an altogether unenviable situation for Cullen who admitted that, yes, Schmidt would make a fine national coach and that Kidney’s departure would inevitably be greeted as an opportunity by players who lacked game time in recent months or years.

Cullen was one of those who found his Test opportunities dwindle and disappear in recent times and he was only half-joking when he said his phone was still on before delivering a heartfelt summation of Kidney’s overall contribution to Irish rugby.

“It’s a very tough situation after a difficult enough campaign. I’ve known Deccie since ’95 and have worked with him with various teams over the years and worked very closely with him. He’s had such a big contribution to Irish rugby.

“Obviously he coached two provinces, coached Munster to a couple of Heineken Cups, won Ireland’s Grand Slam for the first time since 1948 and so he has an unbelievable record.

“Yes, it is sad to see Declan go. That’s my initial reaction and I hope to see him in a new job soon enough.”