Farrell unfazed about Joe Schmidt's presence in All Black camp

Ireland boss Andy Farrell has dismissed the notion that Joe Schmidt joining the All Black coaching staff has a significant effect on the upcoming tour. 

There is some heavy irony at play here as Schmidt and Farrell were once allies as the latter served as assistant coach to the former with Ireland from 2016-1019, and Schmidt is thus blessed with intimate knowledge of the Ireland set-up, knowledge the All Black bosses would gleefully lap up. 

However, Farrell does not see it making much difference. Asked if he was nervous of Schmidt’s presence in the All Black camp, Farrell laughed.  

“No,” he said. “He’s not playing! He’s not taking the field is he? 

“Look, we’ve all played against the All Blacks, how many times have I coached against some of the coaches that are there at the weekend? Those things, you’re always adapting, you’re always changing. I’ve absolutely no doubt the All Blacks are coming up with something a little bit different. You’ve got to be adaptable and be ready for all different outcomes. 

“Whether Joe has an input on that or not, that’s always the way of coaching anyway, to make sure that you’re across everything. 

I think we can overplay it a little bit. I think he’s in there maybe Tuesday, Thursday and I don’t know if he’s going to be there at the weekend. Ian Foster’s the boss, John Plumtree will have an input with the forwards so I’m sure everyone’s under instruction. 

“I’ve been an assistant coach myself, you assist and you follow the head coach’s rules so that’s the way of the world. 

“If you’re a couple of coaches down and you’ve got Joe Schmidt on your doorstep, he’d certainly be the first port of call wouldn’t he? Definitely.”