Leaked.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has admitted it’s “frustrating” that opposition teams learn Ireland’s team sheet well in advance of games due to them being leaked by the media.

The Ireland team leaked online early last week through various outlets and Schmidt says that gave Saturday’s opponent an “real advantage’ as it helps with “preparations” for the game knowing who’s going to be playing and where.

“One of the things which is frustrating for us is that Gats knows our team before time. It did help with his preparations. That’s always a frustration for us.” Schmidt said

“At the same time these two teams know each other so well, it is like sibling rivalry almost, and it will be a bit like that with Scotland for the first game because, again, the players know each other so well. So when you know who is going to be where, it is a real advantage.”

This has been an issue in the past for England also and no doubt has probably happened to Wales, Scotland and other teams. Is it something that media outlets in their respective countries need to be aware of? Especially if it’s doing more harm than good to their nations.

That said, Schmidt did admit this was not the reason Ireland lost, and it assuredly wasn’t.

“You kind of want to keep a bit up your sleeve as long as you can but at the same time that is not the reason we lost. The reason we lost is they are a bloody good Welsh team and they had a helluva lot to play for.” Schmidt added

“I think they did an incredibly good job of doing it in their home stadium in front of their home crowd and they got them excited early and that was exactly what we didn’t want to happen but you don’t control those circumstances.”

What do you think? Is it time media outlets stopped leaking teams or do you think there’s nothing wrong with it?