He joined Leinster as head coach in 2010, and brought unprecedented success to the province, reaching six finals and winning four trophies in three years.

After training as a school teacher, Schmidt played rugby in New Zealand, including 29 games in the provincial championship for Manawatu.

In 1991, during a gap year, Schmidt travelled to Ireland with his wife Kellie to take up an offer by FÁS to coach the underage teams (called the minis) of Mullingar RFC in the Midlands region[3] and he also played amateur rugby in the Irish lower leagues.

Schmidt moved to Europe and joined Clermont Auvergne in 2007 as backs coach under Vern Cotter who he had previously worked with in Auckland.

[5] Under his leadership Leinster won the 2011 Heineken Cup, after beating Northampton Saints 33–22,[6] and lost to Munster in the Celtic League Grand Final in May 2011.

[7] In his final year in charge, he coached Leinster to win the Amlin Challenge Cup and Pro12 titles, beating Stade Français 34–13 and Ulster 24–18 respectively.

[17][18] On 1 March 2015, Ireland won their tenth test match in a row after a 19–9 win against England in the 2015 Six Nations Championship, equalling an Irish record set in 2003.

[30] Ireland finished in third place in the 2016 Six Nations Championship with two wins against Italy (58–15) and Scotland (35–25), a draw against Wales (16–16) and two losses to France (10–9) and England (21–10).

During the 2017 Autumn Internationals, Ireland won all three games, against South Africa (38–3) a record victory, Fiji (23–20), and Argentina (28–19) to move up to third in the World Rugby Rankings.

[40] Following this victory, speculation was rife that Schmidt would not renew his contract as Ireland's head coach and that he would put his family first and return to New Zealand.

He was not present at the ceremony and Ireland Rugby Vice-Captain Peter O'Mahony accepted the award on Schmidt's behalf.

He began his final year as Ireland coach with a 32–20 loss to England on 2 February in the first round of the 2019 Six Nations Championship.

[45][46] At the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Ireland began with a 27–3 win against Scotland on 22 September before losing to Japan a week later 19–12 in the Shizuoka Stadium.

[49][50] In Schmidt's last game in charge, New Zealand won 46–14 to eliminate Ireland from the World Cup at the quarter-final stage.

[65][66] Schmidt returned to the Blues, joining the coaching staff in a part-time supportive role to Leon MacDonald for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, following the departure of Tana Umaga.

[77][78] He was credited as being the influential force behind New Zealand winning the 2022 Rugby Championship [79] On 19 January 2024, Schmidt was appointed the new coach of Australia on a two-year contract, replacing Eddie Jones.

[86] Updated as of 6 February 2025 Bay of Plenty (as assistant coach) Leinster Clermont Auvergne (as assistant coach) Known for his attention to detail, his knowledge of the game of rugby and his "sharp tactical brain",[87] Schmidt has built a reputation as a fierce operator with one of the best rugby brains in the world.

[88] Schmidt is known for analysing his opposition closely, for short, sharp[clarification needed] training sessions, and for simple game strategies based on pressure, territory, intelligent defence with aggressive line speed, and rehearsed attacking plays.

In recognition of Schmidt's high-profile advocacy for epilepsy services, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (HonFRCSI) in May 2019.

[1] Schmidt missed the preparations for the 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match with Italy in Dublin to be by the bedside of his mother as she died.

[92][93][94] He later said at a press conference in Japan, when asked of his future plans after the World Cup, "we'll probably stay in Ireland for some time.

"[95] However, Schmidt moved with his family back to New Zealand in 2020, as he explained in the best interests of his youngest son Luke, who was struggling with his epilepsy under the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions imposed by the Irish Government.