‘Dovetail’ was the word of the day as Rugby Australia laid out the plan for Les Kiss to take over as Wallabies head coach from Joe Schmidt.
Kiss will step into the role after the July Tests of the 2026 Nations Cup after completing his time with the Queensland Reds.
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The former London Irish boss will keep his focus on the Reds throughout his tenure, whilst working with Schmidt in their usual capacity.
Meanwhile, Schmidt has extended his tenure a further eight months than expected, originally planning to depart after the Rugby Championship.
It was a process that took longer than many expected by as RA Head of High Performance Peter Horne said, it was to ensure the best outcome was met.
“I think we worked together and collectively sit down and you start putting the jigsaw together and then you build out the plan,” Horne said.
"I think there's been a number of meetings that this solution needs another discussion, so let's get in the room and let's talk it out. Les (Kiss) talks about the bunker, but there have been a fair few discussions that we've had about how do we really crystallise this plan, and are we comfortable with that.
“I think we've been really diligent in getting it right and I think the outcome from here is that we're going to set a platform for us to have a seamless transition, continuity in the system and stability of our Super franchises through into '27 and beyond.”
Whilst Kiss will keep his focus on the Reds throughout the build, the incoming coach was confident it would be a hassle-free transition just over 12 months before the 2027 World Cup.
“Part of this process is to make sure that Joe has a good chance to focus on what the Wallabies are on about, my process after this will be going back into the Reds, we go to Fiji on Saturday and do a job there,” he said.
“What I wanted to do was make sure I could focus on one. Joe’s focused on (Wallabies) and I think we've come to a great solution to tell you the truth. I'm very optimistic that this will be something that is necessary.
“The transition of coaches is massively important. If there's a big gap and a new coach comes in and no one knows what's going to happen that's the biggest place you don't want to be in.
“I feel comfortable with how it's all landed.”
Schmidt’s past relationship and shared philosophy with Kiss have him confident it’ll be a natural progression when the time is up.
“I think we will 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 a pretty smooth transition that's not the big difference that started last year,” he added.
Schmidt ruled out continuing past 2026 as he focused on his life away from Rugby, but admitted he’ll still likely answer the call if asked for advice.
“It's not something that I'd ever rule out completely but it's definitely not my plans,” he said.
“The boat on the lake and trying to get my golf handicap down…That would be a couple of really ambitious goals that I'd have beyond the end of July next year.
“It isn't really something that I'm planning to do but I had a guy I coached with ring me a couple of weeks ago and ask if I would look at their last two games and give him some feedback on some things that I see in their game, and bounce a few ideas back to him.
“So I have maybe a sounding board remit that would be a friendship orientated thing as much as a professional rugby formal involvement because I'll stay interested in the game and I love the game because of the interdependence and that real teamwork that you need to deliver a performance.”
