Wallabies aim for smooth coaching transition with Les Kiss to take over in 2026 | Australia rugby union team

Incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss is confident he will have enough time to prepare for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, despite only taking charge of the national side from mid-2026.

Rugby Australia confirmed on Wednesday that current head coach Joe Schmidt will continue to lead the Wallabies through the upcoming British and Irish Lions tour and until July next year to allow Kiss to see out his contract with Queensland Reds.

Kiss will be solely focused on the Reds until taking the reins of the national team while also remaining in regular contact with Schmidt through his head coach role with the Super Rugby Pacific club.

The delayed handover will give Kiss little more than a year in the Australian rugby hotseat before the World Cup begins on home soil in October 2027. But the coaches are comfortable their friendship and experience of working closely for more than a decade, including during a successful period with Ireland that included three Six Nations titles and the 2015 World Cup campaign, will ensure a smooth transition.

“Taking on the role is scary but exciting at the same time,” Kiss said as RA announced his appointment at Allianz Stadium. “It’s an honour to do what I’m doing.

“The things that we do well together, the way that we see the game together, the way we see how culture should be built, they’re all underpinning. So there’s not going to be any excuses.

“There’s going to be strong things in place that I can tap into and dovetail, and bring my points of difference to. That continuation is massively important.”

Kiss has risen through the coaching ranks after a successful playing career in rugby league that included 100 games with North Sydney Bears, as well as Queensland State of Origin and national jerseys. The former winger crossed over to union as a defensive coach in South Africa before being an assistant at NSW Waratahs. He later moved to Europe and was on the Ireland coaching staff during Schmidt’s tenure, before becoming director of rugby at Irish province Ulster and then coach of London Irish.

The 60-year-old returned to Australia to take charge of the Reds ahead of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season and led the side to a fifth-place finish in his first year. The Reds are currently fourth on the table on six wins and three losses with five rounds remaining.

“My job as Reds coach is to obviously do my best for the Reds in the market there, but the stronger we are, the stronger rugby in Australia is,” Kiss said. “I’m part of that system to make sure that it flourishes.

“I’ll just be going back and doing what I can on a weekly basis, on a daily basis, to build something that’s special there. With the Lions series coming up, and other important Test matches for the end of the year, I know my remit.”

Schmidt stayed at arm’s length during RA’s search for his successor but said that he was “delighted” with its appointment. While the governing body was able to convince the 59-year-old to extend his term as Wallabies coach to the middle of next year, he was not prepared to take the side further even with a World Cup on the horizon.

“Obviously I know Les really well. We coached together and had a bit of success during that period,” Schmidt said. “I do think that allows for continuity after last year was a little bit transformational because we had 19 debutantes. There was a lot of change that happened from the year before and I think people were universal in believing that was necessary. Now there’s a foundation.

“When I was asked, ‘do you think you could dovetail with Les?’, I said ‘yeah, I do’, because that’s my honest belief. I think we can dovetail well, I think we will share a lot of the same philosophy, albeit with a slightly different approach in some areas. That like-minded philosophy will allow a pretty smooth transition, so there is not the big difference that started last year.”