{"id":737268,"date":"2026-06-15T03:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T03:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737268\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T03:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T03:20:24","slug":"the-wallabies-are-back-but-incoming-coach-les-kiss-is-nowhere-to-be-seen-this-is-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737268\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wallabies are back, but incoming coach Les Kiss is nowhere to be seen. This is why"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iain<\/p>\n

June 15, 2026 \u2014 11:37am<\/p>\n

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A Wallabies training squad of 40 is back in action this week in Sydney at a three-day camp ahead of the first of three Test matches in July.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t expect to see pictures of Les Kiss on the sidelines, all kitted up in his new uniform like a kid on his first day at school, because the incoming Wallabies coach won\u2019t be there. Kiss won\u2019t be fully on deck with the Wallabies until he formally takes the reins as head coach on July 20.<\/p>\n

Confused yet?<\/p>\n

The Wallabies are about to undergo an unprecedented coaching handover between Joe Schmidt and Kiss, which was announced in April last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Schmidt was originally due to finish up in 2025 for family reasons, but extended his departure date several times to help Rugby Australia manage Kiss\u2019 entry, after finishing his third year with the Queensland Reds.<\/p>\n

It was determined Schmidt would handle the Wallabies\u2019 first three Tests of 2026, against Ireland, France and Italy, before Kiss takes over, and his first Test in charge is against Japan on August 8.<\/p>\n

\"CurrentCurrent Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt (left) and incoming head coach Les Kiss.Getty Images<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a highly unusual, mid-season transition.<\/p>\n

Unlike a new coach starting cold after his successor has been sacked, the Schmidt-to-Kiss swap is like a high-speed baton change in a 4x100m relay, but after months\u2019 of preparation.<\/p>\n

So with the Reds\u2019 season now over, fans might have imagined Kiss would be getting up to speed as quickly as possible, and spending every moment he can in the Wallabies camp.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not how it is going to happen.<\/p>\n

Under a carefully considered plan put together by RA, with the input of Schmidt, Kiss, senior players, the RA board and high-performance officials, the old coach will remain the alpha in July and the new coach will largely be hands off and at arm\u2019s length.<\/p>\n

\"RugbyRugby Australia high performance boss Peter Horne (far left), Joe Schmidt, Les Kiss and RA chief executive Phil Waugh.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kiss will be gradually introduced to the environment as July continues, but he won\u2019t be staying at the team hotel or be in the dressing rooms on match days, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made sure the plan has been tested pretty broadly within the group. And then ultimately the proof will be in the pudding … whether we\u2019ve got it right or not,\u201d RA high-performance boss Peter Horne said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an RA priority. If there\u2019s ever a banana peel, it\u2019s now. So we have put in fair bit of effort into the planning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Horne says Kiss has already done a fair bit of legwork since being appointed last year. He spent some days with the Wallabies on the spring tour and has this year juggled Reds duties with short and long term Wallabies planning, including leadership and coaching meetings, and \u201crecce\u201d missions for all the Wallabies\u2019 Rugby World Cup training venues.<\/p>\n

Kiss has also been involved with Schmidt in selecting the July Test squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe reaches out and tests his thinking, would be the description,\u201d Horne said. \u201cThe selection stays with Joe but, ultimately, it\u2019s the smart thing to do to work collectively together around the broader squad and what\u2019s going to be right for [the World Cup in] \u201927.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming July window is an \u201cobservation and handover phase\u201d, says Horne \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t involve Kiss jumping in feet first.<\/p>\n

Kiss is mixing a few days break with tidying up his last Reds duties, namely end-of-season reviews and the handover to his successor, Vern Cotter. Kiss is still officially under contract with the Queensland Rugby Union until July 20.<\/p>\n

\"WallabiesWallabies coach Joe Schmidt faced some big challenges on the spring tour.Getty Images<\/p>\n

During the three Nations Championship Tests, Kiss and new defence coach Scott McLeod (the rest of Kiss\u2019 backroom team are existing Wallabies staff) will not be with Australia at all in the first week in Sydney, ahead of the Ireland Test on July 4. Kiss and McLeod will then join the Wallabies in Brisbane for the France clash on July 11, but as visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll observe during the week,\u201d Horne said. \u201cBut they\u2019re not staying with the team, and on match day, we keep clean \u2013 they will just be at the stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that will be the same for Perth week [against Italy], but they\u2019ll be a bit more involved. The incoming Wallabies coaching staff will have access in the week \u2013 they won\u2019t stay in the same hotel, but they will come to training, come into the meetings and be around selection [meetings].<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we are keeping the match day sacrosanct, so they won\u2019t be in the rooms etc. But it does give good crossover and observation of how players operate within the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The obvious question is with such a limited timeframe \u2013 and the opportunity for him to be immersed much earlier \u2013 why not just have Kiss embedded as early as possible?<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Henry<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a distraction about having two head coaches in the room,\u201d Horne said. \u201cSo what we\u2019re trying to do is the next three Test matches is ensure Joe has got the unimpeded, total focus of the players in the group. We want the best environment possible to win Test matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatch day, that can be confusing having two people. That\u2019s always been Joe\u2019s position too, and when Les takes the mantle, he steps back because it\u2019s really important to give clear air for the head coach. And so it goes both ways here.<\/p>\n

\u201cLes is really respectful of Joe closing out this period well, and it goes the other way, too. Obviously there\u2019s always an ongoing dialogue. It\u2019s just to not trip each other up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo an observation role, and an ability to impact non-match-day stuff is, I think, appropriate. It keeps everyone focused, from players to management, and then we move to a genuine handover and a crossover.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"IainIain Payten<\/a> is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"June 15, 2026 \u2014 11:37am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-737268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}