In April 2010 the Ireland coach Joe Schmidt found himself in the unusual situation of trying to undo an outfit he would be joining two months later. Back then he was assisting Vern Cotter in Clermont, where they were well established as a smooth double act. So Schmidt came to the RDS for that Heineken Cup quarter-final, which Leinster won, and even then you knew the planets would align to bring the teams together again in following seasons.
The idea of Cotter and Schmidt taking up positions on opposite sides of the same halfway line gave those fixtures an added dimension. Co-conspirators in New Zealand with Bay of Plenty, and then in France with Clermont, they couldn’t get away from each other when they split up. In Schmidt’s three seasons with Leinster he would lock horns with Cotter five times, three more than any other European coach. Between pool games and one semifinal Schmidt won twice, and always managed to take a bonus point when defeated.
Now they are continuing their relationship at international level, the talk is already of them hooking up at some point in the future with New Zealand. Schmidt would sooner divulge his innermost thoughts than get involved in that conversation. He is happy to assess what Cotter will bring to the Scotland side on Saturday though when they face Ireland. “They’ll be uncompromising,” he says. “They’ll be very difficult around the fringes and very combative. I think it’s the way Vern played. I think it’s the way he demands people play – that they are combative.
“He doesn’t make very much differentiation between one and 15 or 23 for that matter, everyone’s got to take that responsibility for being particularly combative and taking responsibility for their role. I learned a fair few things off him and I don’t think we’re too different in that regard. It’s just that he’s a bit scarier when he says it. Certainly he’ll demand a fair bit from them and I’ve no doubt that in the circumstances that exist, they’ll be demanding a heck of a lot from themselves – the Scottish players.”
Of this double act Schmidt, a backs’ coach by trade, is Mr Effusive while Cotter, the hard-edged forward, is his distant cousin, Mr Taciturn. But does Cotter concede that years of knowing his opponent allows him to figure what’s coming next?
“Not a lot because if you analyse it they’ve got all facets of the game covered,” Cotter says. “They can kick. They can run. They’re good at the set piece. They’ve got lineout drives. They’re a very skilful team, powerful team. They go to the air if they need to find space.
“They’re obviously a well-drilled team. They’ve spent a lot of time together. And as I said this week we’ve been just trying to get a team back – back on its feet and ready to take on what is going to be a very tough game.”
The one thing Cotter can count on is his pal sending a team out ready to play from the first whistle, unlike in Cardiff last weekend where they were 12-0 down without getting on the ball.
“We just need to make sure that we don’t allow ourselves to go in with any expectation that something is going to happen for us; that we have to go in and know that at Test match level you’ve got to make things happen,” Schmidt said. “You’ve got to be all over the facets of the game that you know are going to be pivotal, and we weren’t in that first 15 minutes against Wales.”
It was a hallmark of Clermont when they were side by side in the coaches’ box: getting off to a flyer, and never letting up. You’d imagine whoever is second out of the traps in this one will be picking up the tab on Saturday night.
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