Why Schmidt’s successor is unfazed by short 14-month World Cup runway

Les Kiss admits taking on the Wallabies’ coaching role ahead of the 2027 World Cup is “scary” but says there will be “no excuses” about the expectation to perform in a “country that expects a lot”.

Kiss, 60, was unveiled as the Wallabies coach-in-waiting in Sydney on Wednesday morning. He will take over from Joe Schmidt in mid-2026, with the New Zealander extending his time in the role for the second time in three months to allow for his old coaching colleague to serve out the remainder of his three-year deal with the Queensland Reds.

Kiss’ late arrival means he will have just 14 months with the side before they play their World Cup opener.

Concerned?

Not exactly.

“We’re a bloody talented country, aren’t we? We can play the game, so I’m looking forward to the challenge,” the Wallaby-coach-in-waiting said.

Kiss should know, having played at every level in rugby league, before commencing his own unique rugby journey, having coached the Springboks and Ireland, several provincial sides and, most recently, the Reds.

Kiss, who is known as one of the good guys in rugby circles, said it was an “honour” to be entrusted in the role ahead of the Wallabies’ vital home World Cup campaign.

“Taking on the role is scary but exciting at the same time,” Kiss told reporters at Allianz Stadium on a dreary and cold Wednesday morning.

“It’s an honour to do what I’m doing. There will not be any excuses there [of a short runway into the World Cup].

“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 in terms of making sure when I step in there people are still certain about how they work and how they do their job. Maybe the difference will be my jokes are better than Joe’s.

“I’m not trying to be flippant there, but I’m just saying it’s massively important that the players know there’s not a rip and tear.”

Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said the decision to turn to Kiss, who previously worked alongside Schmidt for years at the Irish national side, was an “elegant” and practical solution after the New Zealander decided he couldn’t lead the Wallabies through to the World Cup.

After dancing around the Wallabies’ coaching job for months, Waugh looked like the weight was off his shoulders when he spoke more clearly and eloquently than ever before when seated next to Kiss.

“I did joke when we walked in, ‘welcome home,’” quipped Waugh, who played under Kiss for years at the Waratahs.

Waugh added that Rugby Australia was thrilled with the outcome, which would allow Kiss to take over from Schmidt after July’s three Tests in the new Nations Cup.

“I think we’ve ended up in our desired solution in terms of that continuation of growth at the Reds under Les’ leadership, and then Joe spending more time with the group for a longer period of time through to the end of July 2026 and then a seamless transition,” Waugh said.

“We think that the transition and the solutions are really elegant and really neat, and Joe will finish up as head coach at the end of the three tests of the Nations Cup in July 2026, and Les transitions across to lead the program, and we think we’ve got the best solution.”

After being silent on the coaching changeover in recent months, Schmidt admitted he tried to stay out of Rugby Australia’s decision-making process.

But the experienced coach said he was thrilled to see Kiss appointed as his successor, adding that he thought there would be a seamless transition given their 15-year history together.

“I think we can dovetail well,” Schmidt said.

“I think we’ll share a lot of the same philosophy, albeit with a slightly different approach in some areas. But I think that like-minded philosophy will allow for a pretty smooth transition.”

Schmidt, who quickly came out of retirement to answer RA’s call in 2024, said he had no doubt he would continue to bounce ideas with Kiss moving forward but added he was happy to step away from the Wallabies coaching role when his time is up.

“It isn’t really something that I’m planning to do,” Schmidt said.

“Maybe a sounding board remit that would be a friendship-orientated thing as much as a professional rugby formal involvement … just because I’ll stay interested in the game and I love the game.”

Kiss and Schmidt both reiterated that World Cups were “fickle” and that luck did play a part in results.

“You’ve got to try and take the luck out of it, but you do need a bit of luck in those big tournaments,” Kiss said.

“I’ll go back to the whole culture, if your culture is strong, you can go far. And once you get to the pointy end, those games often go down to a 50-50 call.

“But building a resilience and robustness in your squad to go through eight to nine games is what you need to be able to do.”

Schmidt, who took Ireland to No.1 in the world in 2018 but couldn’t progress past the quarter-finals a year later, added that it was impossible to know how a team would go in a World Cup.

“I’m absolutely confident that he will do a great job. Will he [Kiss] win the World Cup? I don’t think anyone can answer that,” he said.

Kiss said he wouldn’t tour with the Wallabies later this year, with the former Maroons and Kangaroos winger saying it was important he place his energy in finishing the job with the Reds.

Meanwhile, Schmidt said that his selection policy for the Lions series would be influenced by whether players had decided to stay in Australian rugby beyond this year.

“I think we were pretty consistent last year around prioritising the players who’ve committed their future to Rugby Australia but no one is out of the mix,” said Schmidt.

“So clarity is that we’ll prioritise them, but clarity is also that nobody is out of the mix. So if there is someone we believe that will add value and is clearly out-playing his opponents as far as selection is concerned, then we know how tough the Lions are going to be, we know how deep they’re going to go with really experienced athletic and combative players, so we know that we’re going to have to be as close as we can to the best group to compete against those guys.”