Rugby: All Blacks bound? Ireland coach Joe Schmidt gives biggest hint yet about future

Ireland's Head Coach Joe Schmidt and New Zealand's head coach Steve Hansen. Photo / Getty

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has announced that he will be making a decision on his coaching future early next week.

Schmidt's contract with Ireland expires at the end of next year's Rugby World Cup, as does that of All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, who has also said he'll be making a decision on his future before the end of the year.

Schmidt would be one of the leading candidates to replace Hansen as All Blacks coach if he decided to step down, and he said it would be a relief to finally make a decision about his future.

"I'd like to be able to take a deep breath on Sunday and then [decide].

"It's a decision that has been a long time coming. I know I can't continue to just go backwards and forwards. I've beaten myself up enough over this decision. I'm probably going to be the most pleased of anyone when it's finally made."

The Irish Times argued that Schmidt's quotes, uttered in a press conference before Ireland's clash with the USA, indicate that Schmidt is set to leave Ireland.

"That it's been "a long time coming" is most likely a reference to having considered ending his tenure before," argued the Times, while they also noted that Schmidt's emotions were potentially telling.

"One can only deduce that the decision has, to a large degree, already been made, and it's assuredly more likely that a decision to end his time as Ireland coach and his family's time in Ireland would make him more emotional than if he and they had decided to stay," deduced the Times.