Joe Schmidt has received high praise from World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry, who has hailed the Ireland coach as being “very special”, writes Stephen Barry.

Henry’s eight-year tenure in charge of New Zealand ended with success at the 2011 World Cup, having previously led Wales and the Lions during a spell in Europe.

Schmidt has been touted as a future All Black coach but has committed to Ireland until the 2019 World Cup, as has New Zealand boss Steve Hansen.

Henry, who spent time as a coaching consultant with Leinster last summer, told ESPN that he thinks highly of Schmidt: “I think he’s special. He’s a very special coach.

“I spent some time at Leinster in August and Joe and I had crossed swords a few times, we know each other reasonably well. The Irish boys just think he’s fabulous. They just think so highly of him.

“He’s into detail, he’s very good at coaching the detail and the players have a huge amount of respect for him and play for him. I think he’s very special. He’s a very special coach.

“There are a number of those, but he’s certainly done exceptionally well with Ireland.”

Schmidt is facing into his fourth 6 Nations campaign, having won his first two in 2014 and 2015. But Henry attributes some of Schmidt’s development to learning from his losses, such as the last-minute 2013 loss to Hansen’s All Blacks.

“He learns from those situations,” said Henry. “I remember that scrum in the left hand corner (in November’s landmark win against New Zealand) when the No.12, (Robbie) Henshaw scored off Jamie Heaslip’s pass.

“Everybody was thinking they’d go for the eight-man shove and aim to draw the penalty but they played, scored and finished up getting seven rather than three.

“He learned from that game in Dublin. It’s a sign of somebody who is constantly on the job, always trying to get better and learning from each situation. It’s impressive.”