Joe Schmidt joins Ulster: what his new role could mean for the province
Joe Schmidt joins Ulster in one of the most interesting coaching appointments the province has made in years, but the important detail is that he is not arriving as Richie Murphy’s new assistant or taking over the senior team.
The former Ireland and Australia head coach has been appointed as Ulster’s new Coach Development Advisor, a consultancy role created to strengthen coaching across the province. It is a 12-month arrangement, with Schmidt expected to make several visits to Ulster while also working remotely with coaches between those visits.
That makes this a very different appointment from the usual headline-grabbing addition to a professional coaching ticket. Schmidt’s remit stretches through the academy, age-grade programmes, schools and clubs, as well as the professional game.
So what will Joe Schmidt actually do at Ulster?
The simplest way to look at the role is that Schmidt is being brought in to help improve the people who coach Ulster players, rather than simply coach the senior players himself.
Ulster have described the job as one focused on creating a clearer and more connected coaching pathway. That means mentorship, guidance and strategic support for coaches working at different levels of the game, from the pathway that develops young players through to the professional environment.
For supporters, that may make the impact less obvious at first. There might not be a new Schmidt-designed attack appearing on the pitch in week one, and he will not be standing beside Murphy every matchday. The value is more likely to come from improving standards and consistency behind the scenes.
If a coach working with an academy group, school or club becomes better at developing players, that improvement can eventually feed into the professional side. The same applies if coaches at different levels are working from a more connected set of ideas about skill development, decision-making and preparation.
Why Schmidt is a significant person to bring in
Schmidt arrives with one of the strongest coaching CVs in modern Irish rugby. He won two European Cups with Leinster before taking charge of Ireland in 2013, where he went on to win three Six Nations titles, including the 2018 Grand Slam.
His Ireland side also delivered landmark results against New Zealand, while his reputation became closely associated with detailed preparation and getting players to understand exactly what was expected of them.
After leaving Ireland in 2019, Schmidt later worked in New Zealand rugby and with the All Blacks before becoming Australia head coach in 2024. He stepped down from the Wallabies role this summer, with former Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss succeeding him.
That experience is important, but so is his familiarity with the Irish system. Schmidt already knows how the provincial, academy and international structures interact, which should reduce the amount of time needed simply to understand the environment.
The Richie Murphy connection matters too
There is also an existing relationship at the heart of the appointment. Richie Murphy previously worked with Schmidt at both Leinster and Ireland, so this is not a case of two coaches being introduced for the first time and hoping their ideas fit.
Murphy has first-hand knowledge of how Schmidt works, and Schmidt already understands the demands of developing players within Irish rugby. That should make it easier for the consultancy to complement the existing Ulster coaching structure rather than cut across it.
It also helps explain why this should not be read as pressure on Murphy’s position. Schmidt’s brief is deliberately wider than the senior squad. The appointment is about coach development across Ulster, not installing another head coach above or beside the current one.
What could supporters realistically expect?
The temptation with a name as big as Schmidt is to expect an immediate first-team transformation. That is probably the wrong way to judge this move.
A more realistic test will be whether Ulster can build a stronger coaching pipeline, improve the transition between different levels of the pathway and give promising coaches better access to high-level experience.
That could eventually influence the senior team through better-developed players and coaches, but the most valuable results may take longer than a single season to become obvious.
For Ulster, there is very little downside in giving coaches across the province access to someone with Schmidt’s experience. The more interesting question is how much of that knowledge can be embedded into the system during the next 12 months so the benefit remains after the consultancy ends.
That is what makes the appointment worth watching. It is not simply about putting a famous name into an Ulster tracksuit. It is an attempt to strengthen the structure that produces the coaches who, in turn, develop the next generation of Ulster players.
What do you make of the appointment? Follow our Ulster coaching news as the province builds towards the new season.