Former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has landed a new role with World Rugby as the organisation's director of rugby and high performance.
The New Zealander led Ireland to three Six Nations titles and helped them become the number one ranked team in the world during six years at the helm between 2013 and 2019.
The newly created role will see Schmidt remain in Dublin at World Rugby's headquarters, where his responsibilities will include player welfare, training and education.
His new role, which he will take up in November, comes almost a year after he left the Ireland job following their World Cup exit in Japan.
Despite the difficult end to his tenure with Ireland, Schmidt has so far enjoyed an impressive coaching career, winning consecutive European Cups with Leinster before taking the international job and sealing a Grand Slam in the 2018 Six Nations.
"I'm passionate about the game and keen that people continue to enjoy being involved in it, from the young to the young at heart," Schmidt told World Rugby.
"The professional game is the showpiece for our sport, and involving key stakeholders in our discussions about how the game is played and how players are managed will be beneficial.
"It has been a challenging year thus far and likely to remain difficult for some time, but it has been great to see the resumption of numerous competitions, with plenty of entertaining and exciting matches."
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
