Joe Schmidt anticipates emotional Dublin return

Joe Schmidt led Ireland to a Grand Slam and three Six Nations championships over his six-year tenure. Details for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series match between Ireland and Australia are as follows: Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 30 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, live text and commentary on the BBC Sport website and app Australia coach Joe Schmidt acknowledges the upcoming Test on Saturday against his former Ireland team will evoke strong feelings, despite his efforts to suppress them. His comeback to Ireland, a country where he achieved significant success with Leinster and Ireland and gained widespread popularity, has prompted considerable warm sentiment this week. “It was a bit overwhelming especially at the airport here, and then the lads giving me a hard time,” Schmidt commented on his arrival in Dublin with his Wallabies squad. Schmidt maintains a residence in Dublin, and his daughter has continued to live in the Irish capital since he left his role with Ireland following the 2019 World Cup. “I feel comfortable here. Ten years is a long time.” “I try to be pretty transactional and pretty pragmatic on game day but there will be some emotion in it for me for sure.” The return of the New Zealander has led numerous Irish rugby legends, including Paul O’Connell and Johnny Sexton, to commend his impact on Irish rugby. Even after Schmidt’s departure and his subsequent appointment with his native New Zealand for the 2023 World Cup, Sexton indicated that his former coach’s influence persisted, noting that he still heard “his voice going through” his head during what became the final match of the fly-half’s career against the All Blacks. When questioned about Sexton’s remarks, Schmidt light-heartedly responded that he felt “sorry for him if he still had my voice in his head” before promptly acknowledging the former Ireland and Leinster fly-half’s contributions. “I worked for Johnny for 10 years so it’s probably the longevity of the relationship that we would bounce backwards and forward with ideas.” Schmidt further stated that teammates including Brian O’Driscoll, Isa Nacewa, Brad Thorn, and Sean O’Brien significantly influenced Sexton, whom he characterized as an “incredible, skilful and competitive player with a fantastic understanding of the game”. “All those guys have helped mould Johnny and allowed him to probably understand the game, understand himself and understand that he needed to contain himself a few times and sometimes he just didn’t anyway.” “He brought that but he also brought the coldblooded kind of clear decision making that you need.” Schmidt also commended another of his former Leinster and Ireland players, 37-year-old prop Cian Healy, who is poised to surpass Brian O’Driscoll as Ireland’s most-capped player this Saturday. Healy is scheduled to make his 134th international appearance after being selected on the bench for the concluding match of the nation’s autumn series. “He is exceptional. A physical specimen. A bit like Andrew Porter is. Both those guys, you have to lock them out of the gym the best you can.” “[But] Cian is so agile and he was so dynamic when I first got to Leinster,” the Australia coach further remarked, recounting Healy’s conviction that he could complete a backs move during the 2012 Heineken Cup semi-final against Clermont-Auvergne in 2012. “The pass from Richardt Strauss was going into Rob Kearney and there’s Cian on his shoulder trying to overtake him. He’s that sort of athlete. ” “And he was lethal close to the line. The opposition couldn’t stop him and we couldn’t get the ball off him.” Should Healy participate in the match, he could face his fellow loose-head prop James Slipper, who set a new record for the Wallabies’ most-capped player in September with his 140th appearance. “Maybe there’s something to be said about loose-head props. They know how to get that longevity. With Slips playing at the weekend and Cian Healy, I’m pretty sure that we’ll catch up afterwards and those two will share a bit of hydration,” the Australia coach commented with a smile.