THE Daily Telegraph appear to be having a dig at Irish rugby fans for seeing Joe Schmidt as ‘The Messiah’ before Ireland’s collapse at the Rugby World Cup quarter-final stage.
The English media, who saw their own side fail to emerge from the initial pool stage, had previously outlined Schmidt as a potential successor to Stuart Lancaster, who seems destined to be replaced as Head Coach of England.
However, Schmidt has since said he is “absolutely committed” to Ireland, leaving the likes of The Daily Telegraph with sour grapes, or so it would seem.
In an online article named ‘10 myths that were exploded this tournament’, the broadsheet paper questions Schmidt’s credentials and suggests his status as a 'Messiah' among Ireland fans is unwarranted.
Ireland were seen by many as the Northern Hemisphere's strongest side going into the tournament.
Schmidt, it was believed, had found a winning formula that was principally pragmatic but possessed enough class in the outside backs to cause even the stronger sides at the World Cup real problems.
In the end, despite all of Schmidt's achievements since taking over as head coach two years ago, at the RWC itself it was the same old story for Ireland.
Ireland's record of never having got beyond the last eight at the Rugby World Cup continued, and Schmidt was perhaps not the Messiah the Irish had hoped he was.
The Daily Telegraph
Before guiding Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles, Schmidt steered Leinster to two Heineken Cups, two Pro12 titles and a European Challenge Cup.
The Rugby World Cup remains ongoing, with South Africa and Argentina facing off in Friday’s third-place play-off, before the final is contested between New Zealand and Australia on Saturday.
