During his time in charge, the Ireland coach has rewritten the record books and last week’s historic win over New Zealand was the latest piece of the puzzle. Since the 2015 World Cup exit to Argentina, the coach has made key decisions and produced big performances that have contributed to building a unit capable of fulfilling its potential in Japan next year. Whether it is through personnel appointments or selections, adjustments to the game-plan or a commitment to having three players for every position, Schmidt has been methodically investing his efforts into lasting success. All that investment has put Ireland in a position of strength as they look to finish their most successful calendar year with an 11th win in 12 games against the United States tonight. Piece by piece, Schmidt has been putting the World Cup strategy together and the big picture is becoming clearer all the time. 1 – Appointing Andy Farrell At the end of the 2015 World Cup campaign, Les Kiss left the Ireland set-up for Ulster and Schmidt faced a key decision that would help shape the future direction of his team. The defeat to Argentina in the quarter-final was an era’s worst defensive effort…