Les Kiss looks set to be Schmidt's successor

NEWS: Rugby Australia will name the next Wallabies coach on Wednesday, an official said, with former Ireland assistant Les Kiss reportedly set to get the job.

Kiss, currently coaching the Reds in Super Rugby, looks poised to take over from Joe Schmidt after the New Zealander said he would stand down at the end of this year’s Rugby Championship in February.

A Rugby Australia spokesman told AFP an announcement on the Wallabies head coaching role would be made on Wednesday.

The 60-year-old Australian Kiss was widely considered the frontrunner after Waratahs coach Dan McKellar ruled himself out of the race.

Kiss returned to Australia in 2023 after stints as director of rugby at Irish club Ulster, head coach of London Irish, and assistant coach of the Irish national team.

He is contracted to the Reds until the end of next year but Rugby Australia has indicated it is open to the idea of a Wallabies coach also holding a Super Rugby job.

Schmidt will lead the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions in July-August and the subsequent Rugby Championship.

The Wallabies will appoint a fifth coach in six years after Michael Cheika, Dave Rennie, Eddie Jones and Schmidt, and one that can take them through to the 2027 World Cup, which Australia will host.

Schmidt has presided over six Test wins and seven defeats since he took over after Jones’s disastrous second stint in charge.

Jones oversaw Australia’s first-ever World Cup exit before the knockout stage in 2023.