- Wallabies finally appointed their new head coach
- The former star of the original state of the rugby league won the post
Rugby Australia has confirmed the greatest secrecy of the match by announcing that the Kiss will become the new Wallabies coach – but in a twist, the former star of the original state will only take over Joe Schmidt in the middle of next year.
Schmidt was to have finished after this year’s rugby championship, but RA wanted “a minimum disruption of the Australian rugby ecosystem” and that Kiss ends his Pacific Super Rugby contract with the Queensland Reds in 2026.
“My intention to finish at the end of this year’s rugby championship was adjusted to adapt to the availability of them,” said Schmidt.
“I think it is doing an excellent job with the Reds, so it was important to make its responsibilities a reality.
“ This has certainly been a privilege to participate in the Wallabies – the staff and the players worked hard, but we all know that there is much more hard work in front of us with the British and Irish lions here in a few months.
“For my family, the extension until the end of next July means that they will spend more time with me in Sydney, so we hope to find a good balance.”
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt (left) poses with the man who will replace him next year, the former star of the State of Origin of the Rugby League Kiss
In a surprising decision, Kiss will not support the Wallabies (photo after a match in November of last year) until the end of the Super Rugby 2026 season
Kiss is represented during one of his 100 games for the Bears northern Sydney. He also played for Queensland and represented Australia in rugby league
Schmidt and Kiss have had a solid coaching relationship for more than a decade, including a successful passage with Ireland, which included three six -nations titles and a Rugby World Cup campaign in 2015.
Schmidt will now take the Wallabies during their European end of the season before Kiss took control of the New Zealander after the competition of the Super Rugby Pacific 2026.
A former state of origin of Queensland and winger of Kangaroos, who played 100 games for the Northern Bears of Sydney in the 1980s and 1990s, Kiss will be the fifth coach of Wallabies in seven years.
After a brief rugby league of passing coaches, he fell into a role as a defense coach in South Africa, before helping the NSW Waratahs, then heading to Europe.
There, he succeeded alongside Schmidt with Ireland, before becoming director of rugby in the Irish province of Ulster.
A move to England to train London Irish was quickly finished when the club hit financial problems in 2023, with Kiss Sachof when Brad Thorn left his post to the Reds.
Kiss’s curriculum vitae has caused a general approval and it will inherit a solid nucleus of wallabies which have engaged until the most at least the centerpiece of 2027.
Before Schmidt, Eddie Jones – who had signed a five -year contract – lasted only nine months after Dave Rennie was sensationally refined 10 months before the 2023 World Cup.
The New Zealander Rennie led the team during the COVVI-19 period, entering the role after RA and Michael Cheika separated after the defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2019 World Cup in 2019 against England.
The Wallabies will be in a massive challenge when the British and Irish lions will arrive under their series in June, each match illustrated live on Stan Sport.
