Australian rugby has been buffeted by strong winds for many years, but the strategy to convince Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt to stay around until his replacement Les Kiss is free to lead the team in 15 months ensures a calm transition and a continuation of the style and philosophy in preparations for the 2027 home World Cup.
As revealed in the Herald on Tuesday, Rugby Australia succeeded in getting Schmidt to extend his stint as Wallabies coach from October this year – he was supposed to finish at the end of the Rugby Championship – to July next year. Kiss, the Queensland Reds coach, will take over in July 2026 on a deal through to the end of 2028.
Schmidt and Kiss have enjoyed a strong coaching relationship for more than a decade, including a successful joint stint with Ireland that included three Six Nations titles and Rugby World Cup campaigns in 2011 and 2015. Rugby Australia welcomed the unusual transition arrangement, saying it was keen for “minimal disruption to the Australian rugby ecosystem”.
Kiss was under no illusions about his task. “This is a country that expects a lot in the sporting market … and I’m very clear with what I want to be able to do with that team, but I know that the continuation that we’re building here [will help]. I’m not here to rip and tear,” he said.
The code in Australia has endured years of false starts: the Michael Cheika-Raelene Castle era dramatically fell apart in 2019; the Bill Pulver-Ewen McKenzie partnership ended with the coach resigning the day of the 2014 Bledisloe Cup Test.
Perhaps the worst moments came after the then-chair of Rugby Australia, Hamish McLennan, axed Dave Rennie and hired Eddie Jones to coach the Wallabies in 2023. Jones was supposed to rescue rugby from administration-induced doldrums with a winning team that would attract crowds, coverage and television ratings. Instead, he delivered just two Test wins until the Herald’s Tom Decent revealed him being secretly interviewed by Japanese rugby officials on the eve of the World Cup.
Since those days of disaster, the Wallabies’ trajectory improved under Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh, who took over in late 2023, and chair Daniel Herbert, who replaced McLennan in early 2024. Schmidt was appointed coach in January 2024.
Schmidt turned the Wallabies around from the ignominy of the Jones era. He didn’t transform them but they finished that season a better side than when they started. They won back-to-back home Tests against Wales and also beat Georgia in Australia. They registered one win and five defeats in the Rugby Championship but bounced back during their Grand Slam tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, beating England and Wales and losing to Scotland and Ireland.
Rugby Australia faces many challenges, not least last year’s $36.8 million loss and the flight of senior players heading offshore. But settling the coaching succession is a giant step into a brighter future.
