One hundred and eighteen days on from when Rugby Australia first flagged having some clarity on the Wallabies coach for the run to Rugby World Cup 2027, Queensland Reds boss and former State of Origin winger Les Kiss will finally be unveiled in the role before his team runs out in Suva on Saturday.
But not before one last twist in a succession plan that has had more turns than a garden maze.
In a move that will come as a surprise to nobody, RA boss Phil Waugh will formally announce Kiss as outgoing coach Joe Schmidt’s replacement, before the Queenslander then switches his focus back to Reds’ preparations for their crunch Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Fijian Drua.
It will be a momentary switch of thinking for Kiss, who is desperate to guide the Reds to the Super Rugby title.
However, when it appeared as though the Queenslander would take charge of the Wallabies after this year’s Rugby Championship, he is now set to see out his three-year contract with Queensland Reds and assume the top job in Australian rugby at the conclusion of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season.
While it is still to be confirmed, it is believed that Schmidt has instead agreed to further extend his tenure through to the end of 2025 and into next year, having originally only been signed until the end of the British & Irish Lions series, which concludes on Aug. 2. In announcing his desire to step away due to family reasons, Schmidt in February had already agreed to an extension to cover this year’s southern hemisphere Test showcase.
It is believed Kiss has signed a deal with RA that begins in the middle of 2026 and will see him lead the Wallabies at Rugby World Cup 2027 and beyond.
The Reds had long hoped that Kiss would see out his original contract, and that now appears to have been achieved.
The exact terms of his RA deal will be revealed in the coming days.
ESPN understands there have been some tense negotiations between RA and the QRU throughout the past few weeks. Sources with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity said RA executives entered negotiations with a bullish attitude, having not perhaps understood why the QRU would not simply release its head coach.
The Reds, having identified and recruited Kiss after Brad Thorn’s departure, and then built a successful coaching team around him, felt somewhat taken aback by RA’s early advances, particularly given the team had taken significant strides in the past two years, playing a brand of rugby that was starting to bring the crowds back to Suncorp Stadium.
According to a source, RA had since tread a more cautious line and both parties are now satisfied with their respective outcomes, which will be formalised later this week. ESPN understands both sides eventually worked constructively to reach a resolution that has been described by on stakeholder as a genuinely positive result for both the QRU and RA.
It’s understood that RA baulked at a compensation payout that would have secured Kiss’ release after this year’s Super Rugby season.
The fact that 16,924 people showed up to watch the Reds down the Blues on Friday night, in terrible conditions, reflects the growing affinity for the team in Brisbane. They also enjoyed a season-high crowd of 20,072 for the visit of the Waratahs earlier in the year.
Given the Queensland Rugby Union continues to operate the Reds’ Super Rugby license, unlike the Waratahs and Brumbies who are now both operated by RA, it is no surprise that those at Ballymore were intent on achieving the best result possible for the organisation.
Still, RA boss Phil Waugh insisted recently that the RA was happy with the alignment it had across the Australian rugby ecosystem, describing it as being “very healthy”.
Kiss’ eventual coronation to the top job in Australian rugby comes more than 20 years after he first ventured into rugby coaching as the Springboks’ defence coach in 2001. He has since held assistant roles with the Waratahs, Australia Under 21, Australia A and eventually with Ireland, where he worked under Schmidt, before he became director of rugby at Irish province Ulster and then with London Irish in England.
London Irish’s banishment from the Premiership in 2023 left Kiss a free agent, when the QRU then moved to bring him home as coach of the Reds on a three-year deal.
While acknowledging his interest in the role early in the piece, Kiss was loathe to speak on the subject even when it was confirmed Schmidt would be extending his tenure six games beyond the original contract he signed at the beginning of last year.
Kiss’ time under Schmidt had always put him in pole position to replace the New Zealander, particularly given the former All Blacks assistant had flagged his interest in maintaining a relationship with the Wallabies in a consultancy role.
Attention will soon turn to who, if any, of his Queensland assistants Kiss decides to take with him to the Wallabies. Forwards coach Zane Hilton is highly rated at Ballymore, with the QRU potentially keen to have him succeed Kiss as Reds coach.
What that means for current Wallabies assistants Laurie Fisher, Geoff Parling and Mike Cron is also unknown, though famed Kiwi scrum coach Cron could potentially fulfil a consultancy role like the one Schmidt is expected to step into.
It is expected that Schmidt will also now front the media in the coming weeks, having largely refused to do so while the search to find his successor was conducted.
Whether Kiss spends some time with the Wallabies still in 2025 in a observatory role is also unknown, though one source said that was not part of the negotiations to this point.
