Joe Schmidt is on the verge of winning back-to-back Heineken Cups with Leinster so he is surely going to ignore the possibility of coaching one of his former teams, right? Right?

Now we don’t want to alarm any Leinster fans on this dull and dreary Thursday morning but a job has come up in New Zealand that might, just might, tempt Joe Schmidt away from arguably the best job in Northern hemisphere rugby.

A team that the Kiwi was assistant coach at for three years, the Auckland Blues, have just announced that they are looking for a new coach. They have a coach, Pat Lam, and he is staying until the end of the year, but his position is up for grabs and the Blues are open for applications.

It is understood that Lam will reapply for this job but his record this year, one win in 10, means he is not exactly the favourite. Blues chairman Gary Whetton was clear why the job had to be put up now, with six games in their Super 15 season to go.

"The reality is the results of the Blues to date this season have put considerable focus on the role and, as those in the rugby industry know, this is the time coaches look to secure their coaching posts for next year and beyond," Whetton said.

"In order to ensure we have the best opportunity to garner interest from coaches both locally and abroad, this position needs to be advertised now."

The subtle hint of ‘abroad’ is what makes brings Schmidt, and many others in fairness, into the frame. Considering his record in Europe, the Blues would obviously love to have him back. The question is would Schmidt walk away from the best team in Europe, especially if they land a second title on May 19?

In recent weeks we have seen two Kiwis head this way, Mark Anscombe to Ulster and Rob Penney to Munster, so three of our four top jobs are now held by New Zealanders. Perhaps some in the home of the World Cup champions would like to repatriate one of their most successful exports?

However, Leinster fans can probably sleep easily for a couple of reasons. One, Schmidt has a contract at Leinster for another year and there is no indication he intends to break it. Two, he was reportedly offered the Blues' top job when he was at Clermont and he turned it down. And thirdly, Auckland native John Kirwan, former Italy coach and currently out of work, seems to be the front runner.

Other names like Vern Cotter and even Warren Gatland are being mentioned so speculation on this will be very high but we think that Joe will stay put with Leinster. And we’re very glad.

Now if the Irish job was to come up soon…