Rory Best wants home-grown coaching legacy as part of Joe Schmidt era

Schmidt will return to his native New Zealand following the Rugby World Cup in Japan and Ireland captain Best is keen to acknowledge his coaching legacy.

“Joe’s legacy is obviously the trophies he’s won with Leinster and Ireland,” said Best. “I know it’s a big driver for him not to fail in his own perception.

“And I think he felt the last World Cup was an opportunity to create history.

“That’s what he’s managed to piece together a lot, little pieces of history right along the way.

“And I’d say that was probably a driving force for him to stay for this World Cup, to try to add to that jigsaw.

“That’s the immediate legacy, but I do also think that it will keep going for years to come.

“They now have the kinds of preparation he brought in here. He brought it to Leinster, and they were really successful.

“When he came into the Ireland team, all the other provinces went ‘This is what we’ve got to start doing’.

“You’re going to get coaches that have played under him that are going to bring that into their new roles.

“There’s going to be really good players that have been brought along under him that will keep that going.

“The dream should be that when you have somebody that good that you start to create your own pathway for native coaches.”