ULSTER DEFENCE COACH Jared Payne has hailed the impact that outgoing Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has had during his time in charge of the national side.
Payne played 20 times for Ireland, with all of those caps coming under Schmidt, after coming over from New Zealand and qualifying under the residency rule before moving on to become defence coach at his adopted province.
Schmidt with Payne and Iain Henderson in South Africa in 2016. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO
The two Kiwis shared a close bond, with Payne inheriting the role of midfield general in Schmidt’s teams, a reliable defensive organiser in the heart of his backline.
Payne played in all five games of Ireland’s Six Nations triumph in 2015, and he started at outside centre when Ireland first defeated the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016 as well.
And now he’s paid tribute to the man who was at the helm during both of those successes, claiming that Schmidt will not be happy just to walk away from the job in just under a year’s time empty handed.
“He’s a great coach and obviously he’s stepping away in a year or so and he’ll be pretty keen to finish on a high,” claims Payne.
“He was intense and that got the best out of you. I’ve probably pissed him off once or twice by being too relaxed with him.”
What made him such a good coach, then?
“All sorts, everything,” says Payne. “What he wants, he gets that across, and he has an amazing eye for detail and keeps you honest as a player and he’s a nice guy too.
“Put it all together and he’s pretty good.”
The New Zealander has also worked very closely with Schmidt’s successor, Andy Farrell, both as a player and since venturing into the coaching side of the business.
As a player, the pair combined for Ireland, again with Payne a central part of Farrell’s defensive structures in the backline, while they also toured with the Lions in 2017 — where Payne’s playing career came to an end.
But that led to a fruitful relationship off the pitch as coaches, with Farrell providing mentorship to Payne as he transitioned from player with Ulster into their defensive coach — unofficially at first before officially taking the role in May 2018 to go with his retirement.
Click Here: cheap nike women shoes
It leaves Payne confident that the IRFU have appointed the right man to take over after the World Cup, with the 33-year-old singing Farrell’s praises as a coach.
“Faz is a great coach as well,” he insists. “He’s a bit different to Joe in some aspects but I think he’ll have learnt a lot off Joe and he’s going to put his own slant on it, though I’m not sure exactly what he’ll bring just being a defence coach.