Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw believes Ireland boss Joe Schmidt could become New Zealand's head coach one day.

New Zealand-born Schmidt has coached Ireland since 2013 and guided them to successive Six Nations victories in 2014 and 2015, but McCaw believes there's still a future for him in New Zealand.

"To pick up the experience he's picked up over here would be invaluable," he told UTV Ireland.

"There's a few Super Rugby jobs coming up too, a guy like that, if he wants to get back in New Zealand before he gets a crack at the All Blacks thing he'd be a great man to have back in the mix… Because Steve Hansen is still coaching until at least 2017 so that job may not open up for a while.

"Just to have a guy like that back involved in New Zealand rugby would be awesome. You watch with interest he's certainly done a good job over here over the last few years."

McCaw believes Ireland are close to notching their first win over his country and said New Zealand's last-gasp 24-22 victory over Ireland in 2013 is proof that the men from the Emerald Isle have the ability to beat the world champions.

"There's no doubt that game three years ago, perhaps, we didn't deserve to win it but it just shows you in these games it comes down to fine lines between winning and losing," he added.

"A lot of the same players are still there, so there’s no reason why not, if they get back into the swing of things, they'll be a threat alright."