Reggie Corrigan believes that should Joe Schmidt take over the Ireland job - a role he has been linked with again over the weekend – it would result in the embattled province being “thrown into disarray.”

Corrigan told Newstalk Breakfast he feels the current problems at Leinster mean the side are poorly equipped to deal with the problems caused by losing their coach to the national team job.

“It would cause huge trouble (for Leinster) because they’ve already got a massive problem with trying to find players to replace the payers that are leaving and the disruption that’s involved in that.

“Now if they were to lose a coach on top of that the whole place would be thrown into disarray.”

Corrigan agrees that Schmidt is an excellent candidate for the role, should Declan Kidney not remain in charge, however he thinks the speculation might be failing to acknowledge the difficulties which are certain to act as roadblocks to any potential move for Schmidt to the top job in Irish rugby.

“He’s an excellent coach, there’s no question about that. His credentials are there to prove it.

“I just think all of things that have been mentioned before about him wanting the job, the fact that he’s involved with Leinster, the fact that he’s interested in going back home as well; I think they’re just going against it at the moment.”

Schmidt has distanced himself from the speculation linking him with the Ireland job, telling The Irish Times:

“I have enough problems on my plate, some of them self-made with the guys we have at the moment and I tell you my head is wrecked with that stuff. Whenever we lose I don’t get a lot of sleep so it is not something I have thought about but I know that Declan will still be in the mix and until anything is sorted from that perspective, I am not a massive fan of conjecture.

“Anyway, I’m here at Leinster next year and that keeps my hands pretty full.”

Image: Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt
©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan