IRFU performance director David Nucifora will start new contract discussions with Ireland coach Joe Schmidt ‘in the next week or so’.
Philip Browne, the IRFU’s chief executive, recently revealed that he expected ‘some sort of conclusion over the next couple of months’.
“Joe and I are starting discussions in the next week or so,” Nucifora said in an interview with RTE Sport.
“Obviously, Six Nations was a pretty hectic time. He’s way too busy to be thinking about things like that. And then he had a period of time off with his family for personal reasons when he got back.
“We’re only just all back in the country at the same time now, so he and I, over the next period of time, will be sitting down and starting to talk about what his future would look like beyond the end of this contract.”
“He’s done an exceptional job, so it’s obvious that we’ll be working with Joe to come to a good solution.”
Schmidt’s current deal with the IRFU is due to expire at the end of the RBS Six Nations in 2016.
