Rugby Australia’s negotiations with Joe Schmidt over his future as Wallabies head coach continue.
The 59-year-old has signed a deal with the governing body which only ties him down to the end of the British and Irish Lions series in August.
After a positive impact in 2024, RA are hopeful of Schmidt committing to the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, but that very much depends on the New Zealander’s personal circumstances.
The ex-Ireland boss does not want to spent too long away from home with his son, Luke, suffering from severe epilepsy.
There has been talk of RA allowing Schmidt to miss certain tours in order for him to continue as the Wallabies boss, but so far nothing has been settled.
Last week, Waugh set a deadline of before the start of the Super Rugby Pacific campaign for getting a resolution, but the CEO remained coy when asked about how it is progressing with the Wallabies head coach.
“We’re very mindful and respectful of Joe,” he told Wide World of Sports. “It’s about ensuring we’re working through with him what a sensible solution is.
“Clearly everyone wants to get to an outcome sooner rather than later. We’re trying to accelerate and he’s been very transparent with us and we’re just trying to work out a sensible solution.
“I don’t want to get into trouble by anchoring on dates but we go through things in a very considered way and will get to a sensible outcome. We certainly don’t want to distract from Super Rugby and I think it’s going to be a cracking season.”
Rugby Australia sets deadline for Joe Schmidt’s contract situation to be resolved
Should Schmidt continue, it would be a huge boost for Rugby Australia given the initial impact he has made as Wallabies boss.
He had a huge rebuilding job on his hands but the signs look promising heading towards a huge 2025 Test season.
All Blacks legend Beauden Barrett certainly knows the qualities he possesses having worked with him in 2022 and 2023.
“I know how much of a value add he is to Rugby Australia and the Wallabies so as an All Black I hope that he doesn’t sign on but I know how good it will be for the Wallabies if he does,” Barrett said.
“He’s a great man and great coach so I don’t know but I think he’ll know fairly soon what he wants to do.”
Waugh understands how important it is to keep the top coaches in Australia given the knowledge they can impart to their players.
“You can’t grow players and squads at a provincial level without world-class coaches across the system,” he said.
“And I think we’ve done a better job of getting world-class coaches into the system.
“That certainly gives us depth so we’ll have better players, better coaches coming through our Australian Super Rugby teams, and then it’s a matter of ensuring that we get the right coaching team at Wallabies level too.”
2025-02-05T09:27:53Z