Schmidt signs on until 2017

The IRFU have announced this afternoon that Joe Schmidt has signed on to continue in his role as Head Coach until June 30th 2017.

While this is good news for the IRFU it is far from what they sought out when beginning negotiations following Ireland's 6 Nations victory earlier this year.

Early speculation suggested that Schmidt had put pen to paper for a deal until 2023. While the suggested deal seems excess the IRFU are highly likely to have sought out a longer deal for the former Leinster Head Coach until at least 2019 and the next World Cup in Japan.

June 30th 2017 seems like a strange date to pick and will see Schmidt complete a four-year tenure with Ireland.

Curiously All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen's deal with the NZRU ends at the end of the 2017 season. Furthermore the British & Irish Lions will tour New Zealand in the summer of 2017.
Schmidt will be highly sought after at the end of his contract, don't be surprised if we see him lead the Lions against New Zealand and then swap sides.