Kiwi rugby coach Joe Schmidt has reiterated his future plans for coaching saying while he won't be "involved" in the sport after this year's World Cup, he wouldn't confirm that as a permanent mindset.
Schmidt, who has made a name for himself by propelling Ireland to new heights in the international game, said at today's Six Nations launch in London he was dead set on having a break and spending time with family after the World Cup.
"That is certainly the short-term plan, to not be involved in coaching," Schmidt said.
"Certainly not for 12 months and I'd say quite likely longer than that. We have a couple of family-related projects that we want to work our way through. I don't spend a lot of time at home already so it's probably high time I did."
It's thought that one of the major factors for Schmidt's decision is his son Luke who suffers from epilepsy and battled a brain tumour when he was young.
The decision means Schmidt has effectively removed his name from the hat to replace Steve Hansen as the All Blacks coach.
He also played down the prospect of replacing another Kiwi coach, Warren Gatland, as the British and Irish Lions coach for their South Africa tour in 2021 but did admit he could return after that 12 months off.
"I wouldn't be available [for the Lions] if asked at the moment," he said.
"I said to my wife that we'd get these 12 months done. She said she thought I'd last 12 days potentially without needing to do something."
"I wouldn't say that I'm looking to do any coaching, so it's not at the front of my mind."
Schmidt said instead he's looking to knuckle down for this year's World Cup.
"One of the things I decided in a conversation with myself is that I want to make sure these next 10 months I can help the players be as good as they can be, and to put as much effort as I can into that. That's where your energies go.
"I have had an incredibly planned life for so many years. You get the daily itinerary from the office, they give me my schedule for the week, where I'm going and who I'm seeing. I'm kind of looking forward to 12 months where I can invest that energy in one direction and also not have a daily itinerary or a weekly plan that says this is how you fill your time, and it is very well filled I have to say."
Schmidt has been named a finalist for coach of the year at this year's Halberg Awards after guiding Ireland to Six Nations grand slam and their first win over the All Blacks on home soil in 2018.
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