Coffee with Joe: Schmidt insists he's not 'all over' All Blacks strategy

Schmidt’s role, in advance of him becoming an independent selector in time for the Rugby Championship later this summer, might be temporary enough to have stepped away again before kick-off in Auckland tomorrow

Assistant coach Joe Schmidt with ALl Blacks skills coach Andrew Strawbridge during New Zealand training at Eden Park in Auckland. 

THE old gang was back together again in Auckland this week as Joe Schmidt left the All Blacks camp to grab a coffee and catch up with Johnny Sexton, Andy Farrell and a number of others.

They had campaigned together for the best part of a decade in Schmidt and Sexton’s case after the New Zealander became Leinster head coach in the summer of 2010 and then Ireland in 2013, his transformative skills on the people, practices and structures of both organisations delivering success to both and a lasting impact on the players and coaches he worked with.