Joe Schmidt: World Rugby's Coach of 2014

The year of 2014 saw Ireland take home the Six Nations crown and New Zealand walk off with the Rugby Championship, again.

The All Blacks then came north and conquered all before them to round off a year that saw only a draw with Australia and defeat in South Africa blot an otherwise impressive record.

Steve Hansen has even been able to develop greater strength in depth thanks to injuries and a rotation policy that has left him blessed with world class cover in almost every position—many of those positions with more than one deputy who would stroll into any other team.

So it would be easy to slap the big man on the back and hand him the coach of the year gong, as the game’s governing body did.

But the achievements of another New Zealander in 2014 eclipse those of Hansen. As Stuff.co.nz’s Mark Reason opined:

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The IRB has done some peculiar things in its time, but lauding Steve Hansen as coach of the year was perhaps among the oddest. Sure, the All Blacks have had a good year—not as good as 2013, yet still pretty decent. But when you compare how much progress the All Blacks have made over the previous 12 months with the staggering advances of Ireland, then acknowledging Joe Schmidt's work should have been a no-brainer.

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Here is why Ireland’s Joe Schmidt is my coach of the year:

Six Nations champions

In his first tilt at the Six Nations, Schmidt, like his predecessor Declan Kidney, walked off with the prize. Despite missing the grand slam with a narrow loss at Twickenham, you could argue Schmidt’s victorious campaign was achieved by the tougher route, with trips to London and Paris to negotiate. Schmidt also had to turn a team around who had lost to Australia and, agonisingly, to New Zealand the previous autumn.

Saying farewell to BO’D

The coach in charge at the point of Brian O’Driscoll’s departure from Irish rugby could potentially have handled the leaving of a legend badly. Schimdt avoided this banana skin elegantly.

He paid the great man his dues in the right amount, and the player responded by delivering a set of world class performances in the Six Nations. This was aided by the fact that O’Driscoll and the rest of Ireland’s large Leinster contingent have huge respect for the coach who led them to glory in their provincial colours.

Success in the summer

While most Irish rugby fans would have wanted their team to spend the summer testing themselves on the fields of one of the big three, someone had to go to Argentina. Schmidt’s men traveled to South America and came away with their first series win there in history.

A perfect autumn

Ireland completed their first clean sweep of wins in an autumn series since 2006. A comprehensive win over South Africa was followed by the second string dealing comfortably with Georgia, before Australia were held off in the final round of games.

It will fill Schmidt’s side with confidence as they look to the defence of their Six Nations crown in the new year.

Coping with injuries

Schmidt has arguably established more depth in this Ireland squad than it has ever possessed. In the autumn, he had to make do without the following players at some point, per Sports News Ireland: Keith Earls, Luke Fitzgerald, Cian Healy, Iain Henderson, Dave Kearney, Luke Marshall, Fergus McFadden, Martin Moore, Jordi Murphy, Sean O’Brien, Donnacha Ryan, Mike Sherry, Dan Touhy, Andrew Trimble and Damien Varley.

Many of their replacements stepped up to the mark in fine fashion, with flanker Rhys Ruddock one shining example. This is a testament to the coach’s knowledge of the provincial system and the styles of rugby played beneath the national side. His skill is in knitting those styles and allowing players to slot in well to a team whose patterns are familiar.

Where now?

Ireland now sit third in the IRB rankings following a 2014 that yielded nine wins and just one defeat—that three-point loss to England. When he took over, they were ninth in the world.

They have beaten three of the Rugby Championship’s members and in their last encounter with New Zealand, came so close to beating the World Champions. They have England and France at home in the Six Nations and must fancy their chances of taking the title once again.

They have the most winnable World Cup group of any of the major European sides, with inconsistent France their major rivals to top the section.

This should set up a quarter final with Argentina, assuming the Pumas will not beat New Zealand in the pool stages. Suddenly, a route to the last four for the first time in their history is clearly mapped out, and the pain of missing that chance in 2011—when they could not find a way past Wales having beaten the Wallabies—will provide Schmidt’s men with all the motivation they need.

Destiny awaits this Ireland team, and they have the right man at the helm to help them fulfill it.