Super Pacific Rugby 'still in a good place' despite Kiwi dominance
SPOTLIGHT: Les Kiss said he had mixed emotions after his last game in charge of the Queensland Reds, with his focus now switching to his new role as Australia head coach.
The Reds crashed 24-46 to the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday to end their Super Rugby campaign and draw the curtain on three years at the helm for Kiss.
“Mixed emotions in a lot of ways – I’m bloody proud of the boys and gutted for them at the same time,” Kiss said.
With the Brumbies also losing their play-off game – a crushing 12-66 loss to the Hurricanes – there will be no Australian teams in the tournament semifinals.
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Kiss said he did not think it was a fair representation of where Australian rugby was at.
“I think you’ve got to just recognise that the Kiwi teams have been in pretty good form most of the year,” he said.
“We’ve certainly been improving week-on-week and we went hammer and tongs and just a few moments that they [Chiefs] profited on.
“I think the comp’s still in a good place.”
Australian rugby now turns its attention to the inaugural Nations Championship, with the Wallabies hosting Ireland, France and Italy in July.
Current Australia coach Joe Schmidt will be in charge for those three games before handing the baton to Kiss.
His first matches at the helm will be back-to-back clashes against Eddie Jones’s Japan in August, but he will shadow Schmidt during the Nations Championship.
“I’ll definitely involve Les in anything selection-wise,” Schmidt told Australian media last month.
“I’ll always run things past Les, and there’s a little bit of influence he can have in those first three Tests for selection right from the start.”
Kiss, who was an assistant to Schmidt when he was Ireland coach, said his immediate priority was to “tidy things up here with the Reds”.
“So we make sure we do that right,” he added. “And as with everything, life moves on, footy moves on and onto the next task.”
Reds skipper Fraser McReight is all but certain to feature in Schmidt’s final three Tests and he said the Wallabies would be in safe hands when Kiss takes over.
“Les has been huge [over the last three years],” he said after the Chiefs game.
“I think you are seeing all the senior players playing their best footy under Les and that’s no coincidence.
“He has shown this ability to bring people through, other coaches, our talent pool and give us rope to grow.”
Former Scotland and Fiji coach Vern Cotter, currently at the Blues, is taking over from Kiss at the Reds.
