Schmidt quick to offload Michael Cheika praise

Joe Schmidt afforded himself a small chuckle when he was told that his players had been described by rival coach Michael Cheika as the “greatest Irish team in their history”.

The two former Leinster bosses had taken charge of a Heineken Cup team or two in their times as head coaches at the province, Cheika with the inaugural European success in 2009 when Ireland were flying high with a first Grand Slam since 1948 earlier that spring while the architect of that most recent Six Nations triumph had plotted glory in 2011 and 2012.

Now they go head to head for the first time on Australian soil with Ireland ranked second in the world, the Wallabies fourth, and Cheika praising Schmidt’s team to the hilt ahead of Saturday morning’s Suncorp Stadium showdown. “They’re the best team Ireland has had since the start of their rugby history. They’re coming down here as number two in the world. They can claim that they’re underdogs as much as the like, but they’re certainly going to be the favourites when you go off the back of the season they’ve had.”