Dan Carter has claimed that Joe Schmidt’s achievements with Ireland have caught the eye of New Zealand rugby folk.
Schmidt signed a deal in October that will keep him as Ireland head coach until after the 2019 World Cup.
However, Schmidt has been linked with a move back to his home country recently.
“Joe (Schmidt) is sitting in Ireland and we’d like to have him back,” said New Zealand Rugby’s chief executive Steve Tew to the Guardian recently.
Carter backed up these claims when he was speaking to RTÉ 2fm’s Game on on Wednesday. While he didn’t directly state that Schmidt should be the next New Zealand rugby coach, they are certainly admiring the progress that he has been making in Ireland according to the former All Black.
Schmidt’s two Six Nations titles, backed by his historic victory against the All Blacks has lead to him being strongly linked with the job currently held by Steve Hanson.
“When you’re winning Six Nations, you’re beating the All Blacks, you’re making a stand for yourself… that’s when you start getting recognised a lot more back home because we can be so fixated on just the southern hemisphere,” claimed Carter, who retired from international rugby after winning the 2015 World Cup.
“He’s doing all the right things,” added the Racing 92 out half.”Once you’re on the international stage you become a lot more aware of what (coaches) are able to achieve.”
Hansen has served as coach of the All Blacks side since 2012 when he guided his side to the Webb Ellis Cup in 2015.
