Major cap-doffing in the SportsJOE office to Joe Schmidt today.
Ireland had many iron men on the field yesterday as they fended off Australia to complete a clean sweep of the autumn internationals, but the real man of steel may have been sitting in the stands.
Head coach Schmidt was dealing with appendicitis before the game, but manfully stuck it out before hurrying from the Aviva Stadium to St Vincent's Hospital to have his appendix removed last night.
The IRFU released the following statement this morning:
'Following yesterday's game against Australia, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt was assessed by the match day doctors and was sent to St. Vincent's Hospital for further assessment.
The people of Ireland salute you, Joe.
