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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.
But don’t 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’t be there. Kiss won’t be fully on deck with the Wallabies until he formally takes the reins as head coach on July 20.
Confused yet?
The Wallabies are about to undergo an unprecedented coaching handover between Joe Schmidt and Kiss, which was announced in April last year.
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’ entry, after finishing his third year with the Queensland Reds.
It was determined Schmidt would handle the Wallabies’ 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.
It’s a highly unusual, mid-season transition.
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’ of preparation.
So with the Reds’ 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.
But that’s not how it is going to happen.
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’s length.
Kiss will be gradually introduced to the environment as July continues, but he won’t be staying at the team hotel or be in the dressing rooms on match days, for example.
“We 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’ve got it right or not,” RA high-performance boss Peter Horne said.
“It’s been an RA priority. If there’s ever a banana peel, it’s now. So we have put in fair bit of effort into the planning.”
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 “recce” missions for all the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup training venues.
Kiss has also been involved with Schmidt in selecting the July Test squad.
“Joe reaches out and tests his thinking, would be the description,” Horne said. “The selection stays with Joe but, ultimately, it’s the smart thing to do to work collectively together around the broader squad and what’s going to be right for [the World Cup in] ’27.”
The upcoming July window is an “observation and handover phase”, says Horne – and it doesn’t involve Kiss jumping in feet first.
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.
During the three Nations Championship Tests, Kiss and new defence coach Scott McLeod (the rest of Kiss’ 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.
“They’ll observe during the week,” Horne said. “But they’re not staying with the team, and on match day, we keep clean – they will just be at the stadium.
“And that will be the same for Perth week [against Italy], but they’ll be a bit more involved. The incoming Wallabies coaching staff will have access in the week – they won’t stay in the same hotel, but they will come to training, come into the meetings and be around selection [meetings].
“But we are keeping the match day sacrosanct, so they won’t be in the rooms etc. But it does give good crossover and observation of how players operate within the environment.”
The obvious question is with such a limited timeframe – and the opportunity for him to be immersed much earlier – why not just have Kiss embedded as early as possible?
“There’s always a distraction about having two head coaches in the room,” Horne said. “So what we’re 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.
“Match day, that can be confusing having two people. That’s always been Joe’s position too, and when Les takes the mantle, he steps back because it’s really important to give clear air for the head coach. And so it goes both ways here.
“Les is really respectful of Joe closing out this period well, and it goes the other way, too. Obviously there’s always an ongoing dialogue. It’s just to not trip each other up.
“So 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.”
