Wallabies captain not focused on next national coach
SPOTLIGHT: Wallabies captain Harry Wilson insists he hasn’t been in Les Kiss’s ear about taking on the Wallabies job.
Kiss is a frontrunner to replace Joe Schmidt following this year’s Rugby Championship after the New Zealand mentor announced in February that he couldn’t carry on through until the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027.
Schmidt, though, is open to assuming a consultancy role if the next coach asks him.
Given he has worked with Schmidt before during his stint coaching Ireland, Kiss shapes as an obvious candidate.
He would likely be competing with former Wallabies assistants Stephen Larkham and Dan McKellar as well as Michael Cheika, who coached Australia from 2014 to 2019.
But Wilson maintains he hasn’t tried to talk Kiss into applying.
“I have not spoken to him [Kiss] about it at all,” the flanker said ahead of the Kiss-coached Reds’ Super Rugby Pacific season opener on Friday night in Brisbane.
“I’m just worried about Les [Kiss] picking me for this weekend against Moana Pasifika, so I wouldn’t be thinking that far ahead.
“And I guess for Les, he’s got so much on his plate right now. He’s been preparing for the last six, seven months for this weekend and this season ahead.
“So I know I won’t be thinking that far ahead and I know he probably wouldn’t too, so I haven’t spoken to him and don’t really plan on speaking to him much.
“I plan on trying to perform for him week in, week out this year for Reds.”
While most Wallabies fans were disappointed to hear Schmidt was finishing up at year’s end, Wilson applauded the Kiwi for at least going public with his decision early on, so Rugby Australia wasn’t thrust into a mad scramble to find a replacement after the British and Irish Lions series in July and August.
“It is nice to know what’s happening with Joe and for the Lions tour and Rugby Championship,” Wilson said.
“I know as a playing group, we’re all really grateful that he’s sticking around for that little extra period for that Rugby Championship, because if he didn’t, it ultimately would have left us in a pretty tough spot to go straight from the British and Irish Lions three days before we jump on a plane to [play] the world champions [in South Africa].
“It’d be awesome for Joe to do that for us and I’ve got no doubt once the next coach is sorted, he’ll be in there and learning the way we go about our business so it’s a smooth transition from there.”
