The next coach of Australia’s men’s rugby union team has heaped praise on the attitude of the Wallabies following their dramatic victory against Argentina last weekend.

Les Kiss takes over the reins of the Wallabies in mid-2026, with this month’s new Super Rugby AUS, and the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific still to complete with the Reds.

The Wallabies have been making headlines for all the right reasons in recent times.

After securing a victory in the third Test against the British and Irish Lions, the Wallabies secured a historic win over the Springboks in Johannesburg and snatched a comeback victory against Argentina last week.

The win over Los Pumas last Saturday in Townsville produced one of the finest moments for a Wallabies team in recent years, turning down three opportunities to draw the Test and then scoring the match-winning try six minutes after the full-time siren.

Wallabies captain, and Queensland Reds player, Harry Wilson was lauded for his courage to turn down the draw and go for the win. 

Kiss told media on Wednesday that it was a performance to be proud of. 

Rugby competition gives Wallabies hopefuls chance to shine

Australian rugby’s latest chapter in a third-tier competition kicks off this weekend with high hopes that it can be a platform for future stars.

“The boys said they’d rather die on their feet than live on their knees, and they lived up to it,” Kiss said.

“Everyone’s really proud of what that whole team did.”

The Wallabies have risen to sixth in the global rankings, after starting the year in eighth.

The seeding for the 2027 men’s Rugby World Cup will be based on the rankings in December. Australia will have an easier path to the knock-out stages of their home world cup if they can remain inside the top six. 

The Wallabies are also in contention for this year’s Rugby Championship. Australia sits second on the table, trailing New Zealand by one point.

RA’s domestic comp must avoid familiar hurdles

Super Rugby AUS — to act as the third tier of the men’s professional game in Australia — makes sense, but it must steer clear of the pitfalls that saw previous attempts at such a tournament bite the dust.

The recent success of the Wallabies has built confidence within the group, and it is also having a wider effect.

“It’s fantastic to see a lot more gold jerseys out in public,” Kiss said. 

“I was walking the markets the other day and more and more people are wearing their gold jerseys.

“Joe (Schmidt) and the coaches are doing a fantastic job. 

“It’s brilliant, and long may it continue.”

While the headlines centred around the Wallabies’ finish to claim victory, improvement is still needed if they are to win again this Saturday. 

Los Pumas overcame a first-up defeat to then beat the All Blacks in round two, and will be looking to replicate that rebound at the Sydney Football Stadium. 

Los Pumas held a 14-point lead at half-time in Townsville, and were only beaten by a try six minutes after the full-time siren. 

Speaking to media earlier this week, scrum half Tate McDermott said the Wallabies needed to improve if they were going to overcome Argentina for a second time. 

ABC Sport Daily podcast

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.

“We know, particularly from that first half, that they’re going to be unbelievably good this weekend and they’re going to be disappointed with how that game finished because they had it there particularly once they kicked that penalty.

“They probably should have closed it out and they didn’t so we got lucky in a sense there but we also created our own luck and I’ve been working really hard this week.

“We’ve obviously reviewed the game, got some key areas of growth, and we’ve got to keep doing what we’ve been doing, which is finishing the game strong.”