For all their success in winning three European trophies in as many seasons - the Heineken Cup twice followed by the Amlin Cup - they had lost all three PRO12 Grand Finals since the first one in 2010. It could be argued, therefore, that winning the RaboDirect PRO12 proved three times more difficult than conquering Europe.
"It's very, very tough to win," the outgoing head coach said during the euphoric climax to his last season in charge. "It's a super competition. Anyone of the top six could have won it."
Schmidt at Leinster has been all about silverware, loads of it and none more glittering than the Heineken Cup won at the Millennium Stadium in 2011 and retained at Twickenham twelve months later. Despite Toulon carting the biggest prize off to the Cote d'Azur, Leinster are still Europe's No.1 ranked club.
When Schmidt arrived at the RDS from Clermont there was no immediate sign that Leinster would soon sweep all before them.
The start turned out to be less than auspicious as Brian O'Driscoll recalled, once genial Joe had taken his last curtain call after the crowning glory of victory over Ulster.
"Joe has been instrumental in our success," O'Driscoll said. "The knives were sharpened a little early when we lost our first five games. But you could tell right from the start from his ideas that he was a big thinker who knew a lot about the game.
"He demands very, very high standards. Sometimes he wants people to expect as much of themselves as he expects of himself which is not an easy ask. He's going to be a big loss but the show goes on."
And Leinster will still be the team to beat next season under Matt O'Connor when the former Leicester Tigers' coach sets out to follow the hardest of acts. The everlasting O'Driscoll will be there too but others will be conspicuous by their absence.
Isa Nacewa and Jonny Sexton have already gone their separate ways, the Fijian into retirement, the Dubliner to Australia via Hong Kong with the Lions and then to the French Top 14. Both had ample reason to appreciate Schmidt's creation of a winning environment.
"This has been a pretty unbelievable organisation to be part of," Sexton said. "To get to six finals in three years and win four of them says everything about Joe.
"My first impression of him made me wonder whether he was hard enough to be a head coach because he was so nice.
"I shall never forget these last three seasons. Once we were knocked out of the Heineken, this was the one trophy we wanted more than ever. To have lost four Grand Finals in a row would have been unthinkable."
Nobody was more deserving in that respect than Nacewa because he had played in the previous three, losing the lot to the Ospreys at the RDS, Munster in Limerick and then again in Dublin to an action replay against the Ospreys 12 months ago.
This time there would be no falling at the last hurdle. Shane Jennings' early try followed rapidly by the first of Sexton's four penalties ensured that Leinster would finish the eight-month steeplechase like thoroughbreds against formidable opponents from north of the border.
They led Ulster all the way, no mean feat considering that Ulster in turn had led the regular season virtually from start to finish.
If only Ravenhill had been big enough to meet the minimum 15,000-capacity required for any Grand Final venue, Ulster's 'home' final would have been in Belfast.
Instead they will look back on what might have been. Moments after being denied an early penalty try, Robbie Diack surged over only to be held up in-goal. Had the flanker dived for the line instead of stepping inside an opponent, there would surely have been no need to refer it to the TMO.
On such small margins are Grand Finals won and lost although the fact that Leinster scored the only tries made them worthy winners.
The same desperate defence behind their own line which denied Diack had also denied Ryan Grant in the semi-final when the Glasgow Warriors prop suffered a similar fate.
In his hour of victory, Schmidt was generous to the Scots and his counterpart, Gregor Townsend. "Glasgow Warriors have some massive talent and we were lucky enough to get past them in the semi-final," Schmidt said.
"Scarlets gave us a couple of lessons in the first match of the season. I can't see Munster being out of the top four very often. When the Ospreys have their full complement available, they are very tough to beat. And as for next season, I think Treviso will be a dark horse."
Ulster now have ample time to reflect on the price they paid for losing their three biggest games after winning the first 13.
Home advantage in Europe surrendered on the night Northampton beat them at Ravenhill sent them off on their travels and another sobering Twickenham experience at the hands of Saracens.
Mark Anscombe was not the first to find the overall performance affected by international demands.
"We went into that game with six guys who hadn't played one game of rugby in six weeks and that's not the preparation you need to play a good team like Saracens," Ulster's head coach said before the Grand Final. "That's not an excuse. That's a reality."
Beating Leinster twice in two months ultimately proved too much for an Ulster team 'confident' of repeating their win at the RDS on Easter Saturday. They won then by four points but lost the big one by six.
"Ten out of ten for effort but we were not as ruthless as we could have been," said Rory Best before hastily changing plans to join the Lions.
"Saracens did us at the break-down and now Leinster have done us in the same area. We have to be better at the break-down."
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