Rugby pundit George Hook has scoffed at the suggestion that Joe Schmidt could be Ireland's best ever Irish rugby coach.

Speaking after the conclusion of Ireland's 2016 Six Nations, Hook stated that he does not accept that Schmidt is 'as good as he's made out to be' by highlighting that although the Kiwi did steer Ireland to successive Six Nation titles, they were not by emphatic margins.

''This is incredible,'' he told Off The Ball's Richie McCormack, ''How you could suggest that this man is the best coach we've ever had is mind-boggling.''

''Let's take the two championships that everyone's getting hysterical about about. We won them on points difference. Kidney (Declan) won a grand slam, everyone's forgetting about his Grand Slam.''

''We've only won twice since WWII and Kidney did one of them. Eddie (O'Sullivan) won three tripple crowns and everyone's just dismissing it.''

Hook highlighted that prior to the introduction of a points difference system, Irish teams who won Six Nations championships in those circumstances won 'shared championships' because 'there was none of this points difference nonsense.'