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Ordinary Joe
Ordinary Joe
Oct 16, 2024 9:54 PM

Author:Joe Schmidt

Ordinary Joe

'He's a great coach. He lives and breathes the game. There's nothing he doesn't know' Brian O'Driscoll

'The best coach Irish rugby - arguably Irish sport - has ever had' Malachy Clerkin, Irish Times

In the autumn of 2010, a little-known New Zealander called Joe Schmidt took over as head coach at Leinster. He had never been in charge of a professional team. After Leinster lost three of their first four games, a prominent Irish rugby pundit speculated that Schmidt had 'lost the dressing room'.

Nine years on, Joe Schmidt has stepped down as Ireland coach having achieved success on a scale never before seen in Irish rugby. Two Heineken Cups in three seasons with Leinster. Three Six Nations championships in six seasons with Ireland, including the Grand Slam in 2018. And a host of firsts: the first Irish victory in South Africa; the first Irish defeat of the All Blacks, and then a second; and Ireland's first number 1 world ranking.

Along the way, Schmidt became a byword for precision and focus in coaching, remarkable attention to detail and the highest of standards. But who is Joe Schmidt? In Ordinary Joe, Schmidt tells the story of his life and influences: the experiences and management ideas that made him the coach, and the man, that he is today. And his diaries of the 2018 Grand Slam and the 2019 Rugby World Cup provide a brilliantly intimate insight into the stresses and joys of coaching a national team in victory and defeat.

From the small towns in New Zealand's North Island where he played barefoot rugby and jostled around the dinner table with seven siblings, to the training grounds and video rooms where he consistently kept his teams a step ahead of the opposition, Ordinary Joe reveals an ordinary man who has helped his teams to achieve extraordinary things.

'Rugby obsessives and amateur coaches will revel in the insight that Schmidt offers into his training methods, tactics and preparation ... Full of insight, emotion and considered analysis' Irish Daily Mail

'An insight into the fascinating personality of the man who has been the single most influential figure in Irish rugby over the last decade' Irish Times

'He is clearly more than an ordinary coach, the winning of two Heinekens, beating New Zealand twice, the 2018 Grand Slam and reaching no.1 in the World Rankings are positive brushstrokes, marking Irish rugby for ever ... A rocky read about exceptional deeds, told in extraordinary fashion' Irish Daily Star

'Undoubtedly the greatest coach in Irish rugby history' Daily Telegraph

Reviews

Rugby obsessives and amateur coaches will revel in the insight that Schmidt offers into his training methods, tactics and preparation ... Full of insight, emotion and considered analysis

—— Irish Daily Mail

An insight into the fascinating personality of the man who has been the single most influential figure in Irish rugby over the last decade

—— Irish Times

He is clearly more than an ordinary coach, the winning of two Heinekens, beating New Zealand twice, the 2018 Grand Slam and reaching no.1 in the World Rankings are positive brushstrokes, marking Irish rugby for ever ... A rocky read about exceptional deeds, told in extraordinary fashion

—— Irish Daily Star

Undoubtedly the greatest coach in Irish rugby history

—— Daily Telegraph

Fantastic!

—— 2FM

A great read

—— Sinéad Crowley

Many great stories

—— Connacht Tribune

An uplifting, illuminating read

—— Daily Mirror

Winn's soul-baring honesty and beautifully remembered, touching conversations will take your breath away

—— BBC Countryfile

Notions of home are poignantly explored . . . Her evocations of weather, landscape, the sea and her love for her partner, Moth, who has an incurable neurodegenerative condition, are wonderful

—— Guardian

Full of descriptions of dramatic landscapes that make the reader long for the great outdoors . . . an uplifting and illuminating book

—— Sunday Express

Heart-rending. A love letter to the natural world in all its wondrous glory . . . spellbinding

—— Herald

Explores the challenge of returning to mainstream life after homelessness

—— Daily Express, 2020 Hot Reads

The Wild Silence confirms Raynor as a natural and extremely talented writer with an incredible way with words. This book gives us all what we wanted to know at the end of The Salt Path which is what happened next. So moving, it made me cry . . . repeatedly

—— Sophie Raworth

This book promises to take you away with the same amazing descriptive and emotive writing found in The Salt Path

—— David Atherton, Great British Bake Off Winner 2019 , Waitrose Weekend

Profoundly moving and emotionally transcendent reading

—— The List

Unflinching . . . Another beautifully poignant read about triumph over adversity, and adjusting to life after immense change

—— The List

Intimate in feel and ambitious in scope . . . Throughout it all [Winn] retains her faith in the importance of having an almost visceral connection to the land

—— Observer

This sequel sees the pair trying unsatisfactorily to readjust to normal life before finding ways to reharness nature's healing power

—— Telegraph

Moving. A must-read for anyone inspired by The Salt Path . . . another thoughtful memoir

—— Good Housekeeping

The quality of Winn's writing draws us through the story with the same emotional honesty, lyricism and warmth that epitomises The Salt Path

—— Resurgence & Ecologist

A poignant and passionate, grounded yet uplifting journey of discovery in which we learn what can be found after all seems lost, The Wild Silence is a testament to the transformative power of nature and the fresh hope it nurtures within ourselves

—— Steven McKenzie, editor of The Big Issue

Picks up the story where Winn's astonishing The Salt Path left off

—— The New European

Wise, unflinching, exquisite prose

—— Rachel Joyce

Luminous and touching

—— Foyles

Raynor Winn's story has become the stuff of legend

—— Cornwall Life

Writing with such honesty is a trademark of [Winn's] style

—— The Marshwood Vale Magazine

'9 new books to read this September'

—— SheerLuxe

Powerful

—— Writers Forum

Beautiful

—— Herald

'Country Life Book of the Week'

—— Country Life

Down to earth yet astonishing . . . touching

—— This England

So beautifully told

—— i

Want a book that's going to leave you chilled to the bone? This is it!

—— Fabulous Magazine

Sarah Pearse's chilling debut is making waves. The Sanatorium certainly has an eerie, cinematic appeal [...] With whispers of The Shining in setting and The Girl on the Train in pace.

—— Vanity Fair

I absolutely loved The Sanatorium - it gave me all the wintry thrills and chills. It was just wonderful.

—— Lucy Foley, bestselling author of THE HUNTING PARTY and THE GUEST LIST

Genuinely scary and deliciously atmospheric, and one of the best books of 2021, this international bestseller is guaranteed to give you goosebumps.

—— Woman & Home

What a page-turner! Like Agatha Christie crossed with Scandi noir, and doing with Swiss mountains what Jane Harper books do with the Australian outback. Loved it, and can't wait for the next Elin book!

—— Andrea Mara, author of ALL HER FAULT
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