How is no one talking about this?
It’s been three weeks since Rugby Australia announced that Joe Schmidt would be “extending” his time in Australia until after this year’s Rugby Championship. Yes, with Schmidt seeing out the TRC it is technically an extension but it’s far from what fans were hoping for after months of speculation following the summer tour. You can put a tuxedo on a goat but it’s still a goat. Or as my old Year Head Mr Bailey used to say, “you can lead a horse to water but they’re very hard to drown…”. If anyone can sum this up for me, and I mean really sum it up, please reach out. My friends from school and I often think he had the meaning of life buried somewhere among all those idioms. Some day it will just click.
We soldier on.
It’s fantastic for Australian rugby that Schmidt is staying on for the Rugby Championship. It’s easy to focus on the future when you know his tenure is coming to an end but the fact of the matter is, the tournament is happening and if the Wallabies were to have a middling tournament under a caretaker coach, it would undo so much of Schmidt’s great work. Instead, he now brings stability to the Wallabies, buying Ruby Australia more time to find his successor.
Which brings us to the topic of his successor. As the search unfolds, the same names appear again and again. It first became apparent to me after Eddie Jones’ departure and has been magnified once again. Australians, execs and fans alike are obsessed with the comfort of a familiar face. As a nation, do Australians tend to get back with their exes? How in the year 2025, are names like Dave Rennie and Michael Cheika being floated as genuine contenders for the position? Is the devil you know better than getting back out there? I’d like to say you’ve been hurt before, but when it comes to Wallabies coaches, from the outside looking in, it is actually you not me. The definition of madness and all that!
In a previous article, I highlighted three options Rugby Australia should explore. One is Ronan O’Gara who has since linked himself with the role. Stuart Lancaster is now a free agent after being the fall guy for a Racing 92 team that wants to get better but isn’t willing to change anything about itself to see it through. The third, to the best of my knowledge, hasn’t been highlighted by any other outlet or pundit to date: Noel McNamara. The Bordeaux Begles attack coach is leading a team that sits third on the Top 14 table and is still flying high with an array of attacking French and international talent. The Irishman is flying under the radar and is ready to take the next step to international rugby. Unfortunately for the Wallabies, I think their barnstorming signature of Eddie Jones has left them Risk-averse, so I can’t blame them for not biting early on McNamara. However, he’s not the Irishman I really want to talk about.
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
The fact no one has connected these dots yet is just shy of an outrage. It shouldn’t be this hot of a take, it makes perfect sense, but the lack of noise makes it feel very Stephen A. Smith-esque (an American sports pundit known for outlandish takes no one else has tabled, who even hosts a show called ‘First Take’ for crying out loud).
The next Wallabies coach lies in a country with both a storied history and a recent relationship with Australia. To many across the world, it’s the land of luck, of their ancestors. For Australia, it’s the land of doctors and engineers, awful tan lines and strawberry pickers. Australia’s next head coach is in Ireland.
Since taking up the top job for the British and Irish Lions, Andy Farrell has handed over control of the number two ranked team in the world to assistant coach Simon Easterby. The former Irish international has been part of the coaching ticket since 2014, starting off as the forwards coach, progressing to mastering Ireland’s defence, to now leading them throughout the country’s most coveted competition, the Six Nations. The transition from Farrell to Easterby has been seamless with the former Scarlets head coach taking charge of the past two Emerging Ireland Tours.
The emerging tours were used as A fixtures for players on the fringes of the national squad. Current internationals like Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley, Joe McCarthy and Jamie Osborne all played key minutes in these tours. Andy Farrell stepped back entirely from these campaigns, giving full control to Easterby to test himself in the pole position of being a head coach. These tours now look like a masterstroke by the IRFU, who have seen their interim coach win a Triple Crown in his first three games in charge. Easterby’s Irish side look even stronger than where Farrell left them in November. Easterby has managed Ireland’s newest generational fly-half Sam Prendergast extremely well, providing him with stability inside and out and empowering him to finish out tight games for a side who are aiming for a Grand Slam.
Since taking over the top job, Easterby looks more relaxed, engaging very well with media, speaking openly and honestly about his side whilst also highlighting interesting insights to the team’s preparation and mindset. With a Welsh family, Easterby actually resides in Wales outside of international windows and has already been linked with the Wales position after Warren Gatland’s departure. However, there’s another job in international rugby Easterby should be targeting: head coach of the Wallabies.
The former back-rower has a track record of winning, with Ireland’s maul becoming a real weapon upon his arrival in the national side. The Irish defence has been incredibly difficult to break down in recent years and now that he’s sat in the driving seat, this Ireland team looks to have another dimension.
Ten years in the international arena is no mean feat, Easterby has been an integral part of this Ireland’s side evolution and silverware and perhaps his most important aspect to Australian fans is that he’s worked with current Wallaby head coach Joe Schmidt. Joe Schmidt hired him from the Scarlets in 2014 to join the national side, where the two worked side by side for five years, which included two World Cups. Easterby’s time with Schmidt means he understands the New Zealander’s inner workings and style of play as well as any other manager. In fact, Easterby has spent more time working with Joe Schmidt than the current favourite Les Kiss.
Kiss has time and time again been cited as the best man to fill his shoes precisely for his experience working with Schmidt in Ireland. I’d argue that Easterby is even more versed in Schmidt’s style of play than Kiss and has had a front-row seat to how Andy Farrell has built on Schmidt’s foundations.
Les Kiss. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
The Irish Independent revealed the figure the Welsh Rugby Union would need to front up in order to buy Easterby out of his current Irish contract. €500,000 or roughly $830,000 is a staggering amount of money. However, this was the number cited for a direct competitor. Wales and Ireland compete every year, their clubs compete against each other every week. Surely the figure could be negotiated down by Rugby Australia? It would be money well spent.
Ireland are currently on track for a Grand Slam in this year’s Six Nations; however, France loom in two weeks’ time and they look back to their Dupont-esque best. Nevertheless, Simon Easterby has managed this Irish side incredibly well in the absence of the current head coach. Rugby Australia have already brought in Joe Schmidt, they’ve leant on David Nucifora. Something tells me, there’s still more oil in Ireland they can drill down to to help get the Wallabies long-term future secured.
Simon Easterby to the Wallabies. Keep an eye out on Ireland for the rest of the championship and the name may grow on you.
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