Schmidt close to finalising coaching team

Joe Schmidt hopes to have his coaching team in place by the end of next month and announced in August after he confirmed he has spoken to a host of candidates about becoming part of his ticket.

With forwards coach Gert Smal and defence guru Anthony Foley nearing the exit door and kicking specialist Mark Tainton already gone, the New Zealander needs new faces to add to Les Kiss, who will remain on from the Declan Kidney era.

Schmidt wants a smaller backroom team than Kidney, with four key lieutenants; a forwards coach, a backs coach, a skills and kicking coach a defence specialist in Kiss.

“I can tell you I’m working pretty hard at it, I’ve had discussions. I’d think (I’ll have it in place) by the end of July. Now that’s when I might know, but I might not have the people, some may need to extricate themselves, but the people I’ve spoken to have all indicated that they’d be interested,” he said in Toronto.

“In a perfect world July would be great, then get some confirmation by August, then you’ve got September, October to lead into some planning.

“I’d like the team to be a little bit smaller than the previous coaching team so we’ve got a tight-knit unit really. I like the number that I’ve worked with in previous years, at Clermont it was just myself, Vern Cotter and Alex King so it was a very small group, I like the fact that then it’s a pretty tight circle. People aren’t then scrambling for time, it’s easier to have a little bit more clarity.”

Schmidt arrived in North America last Friday in time to watch Ireland’s 15-12 win over the USA in Houston.

And he maintains he will remain hands off this week as Kiss continues to manage the side.

“The same as last week and I wasn’t here last week,” he said.

“I’m really here as an observer, I’ve been in the meetings and at training. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to the other coaches and get their feedback on how players are going.”

However, even though he is hands off, his time as Ireland coach has begun and the New Zealander can finally focus on the task at hand after a hectic end to the season with Leinster.

An issue that has dominated his thoughts is what will define success in his first year in charge, with all the pressure his previous success with Leinster brings with it.

“Even at the finish of Leinster, a lot of people said I can’t wait to see you do that with Ireland. It is not like that, it is a whole new ball game, a whole new level and it is a different group. You have to start from scratch,” he said.

“I keep asking myself the same thing. What is going to be the performance measure,” he said.

“Obviously, the Test matches are the performance measure and the black and white measure is the result.

“Trying to start with the team, how far along the road can I get if I want to change some shape to the team and with a group of players I don’t know as well and I don’t have as much access to as I did being a club coach.

“If our performances are good in those first games and we don’t quite get the results, I know I will certainly be disappointed and feel pressure, but at the same time I will at least feel that we’re going into a certain direction.

“Leading into the Six Nations it wouldn’t be a catastrophe, but it certainly would be a massive frustration for me and the supporters.

“I’ll be trying to judge our performance – how effectively do we use the ball, how effectively did we look after it, trying to be process orientated.

“Those processes are what we can control come the Six Nations. I can’t control the bounce of a ball, I can try to control our training to try and make sure we can be as effective as possible.”