No thanks.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has admitted he’s “not really” interested in ever taking over the All Blacks as he gets set to take an extended break from coaching.

The Kiwi revealed late last year that he will be stepping down as Ireland boss following the Rugby World Cup game to spend more time with his family. A return to coaching is not out of the question, but he has insisted he will take at least “12 months” out of the game.

And while he’s long been heralded as a future All Blacks coach following his hugely successful run with Irish Rugby, Schmidt has revealed he’s simply not interested in the job.

“Not really,”Schmidt said when asked if he had aspirations to coach the All Blacks some day.

In fact, Schmidt says his entire coaching career was “accidental” and that it was never his intention to make a career out of it.

“I don’t want to bore you with the whole history of it but I’m an incredibly accidental coach. Even when I started coaching, it was when I first started teaching.” Schmidt said

“I’d been playing a bit of basketball and obviously as a point guard I’m not the biggest man but when I first started at Palmerston North Boys’ High, I got asked by Dave Sims, the rector.

“Well, I didn’t really get asked, I got told that I needed to be involved in the co-curricular life of the school and I said, ‘Look, I’d love to coach basketball’ and he said, ‘That’s brilliant, that’s on Friday nights, it won’t affect your rugby coaching on Saturday mornings.’

“At the time I was playing on the wing for Manawatu, the provincial team, and it kind of went from there.

“So I love the game, I’ve played it from the time I was four years old.

“It’s not that I don’t love the game, I just think that it wasn’t an intended career and I just have a few priorities that just kind of re-shaped my thinking a little bit.

“At the same time, to be honest, you can’t keep riding your luck. I’ve had an unbelievable time in the game, whether it be with Bay of Plenty in the Ranfurly Shield or even when we finished up with the Blues with that last [Super Rugby] semi-final, I thought it was a really good step and the Bouclier de Brennus in France and with Leinster, and now with Ireland… I think you’ve got to run out of luck at some stage.”

Accident or not, he’s become one hell of a coach.

[The42.ie]