IRFU braced for the Joe Schmidt jolt

Joe Schmidt will today inform his employers at the Irish Rugby Football Union of his decision to stay or leave his role beyond next year’s World Cup and no-one will be more relieved to have made it than the man himself.

If the Ireland head coach does confirm Irish rugby’s worst fears that he will depart at the end of his current contract next November, he will be calling time on a six-and-a-half-year stint that has brought unprecedented success to the national team, none more so than in the last 12 months.