At the 30-minute mark of the Wallabies’ Test against France in Brisbane, incoming Australian coach Les Kiss appeared on the big screen at Suncorp Stadium.
He wasn’t wearing a Wallabies tie. He wasn’t in the coaches’ box shadowing incumbent Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt.
Kiss was just another observer in the stands, twiddling his thumbs until he officially takes over as head coach for a Test in four weeks’ time against Eddie Jones’ Japan on August 8 in Osaka.
After another painful defeat, there is a legitimate case for Rugby Australia to ditch their carefully planned transition, starting with Australia’s Test against Italy in Perth next week, which is Schmidt’s official send-off.
The final chapter of the Schmidt era is fading badly, and the transition can’t come quickly enough with a home World Cup 15 months away.
Despite flashes of promise, Australia have lost nine of their past 10 Tests and six on the trot. When has that ever been acceptable for the Australian rugby public?
Their only victory in that stretch was a four-point win over Japan, hardly one of world rugby’s heavyweights. Wallabies coaches have been sacked for less.
Last year, the Wallabies also became the first Australian side in 67 years to lose every match on an end-of-year tour of Europe.
As it stands, this is the worst 10-game run from a Wallabies team in terms of losses since 1969.
Between November 2022 and September 2023, the Wallabies lost 10 of 12 matches. Eddie Jones’ second stint in charge of the Wallabies ended with two wins from nine Tests in 2023.
There was a period between November 2017 and September 2018 when the Wallabies lost eight from 10 Tests.
In 2005, the Wallabies lost eight of nine Tests before Jones was sacked.
Saturday night’s 42-26 loss leaves Schmidt with a winning record of 36.7 per cent – the worst of any Wallabies coach in the professional era.
A victory over Italy would lift him narrowly above Dave Rennie – by a decimal point – although both would still be at 38 per cent.
Asked how the run of nine defeats in 10 Tests sat with him and his legacy, Schmidt offered an honest assessment.
“You don’t take jobs on like this to come second,” he said. “Internally, I am incredibly competitive. I want these guys to get a little bit of reward for the effort they’re making.”
Schmidt also defended the optics of Kiss watching from the grandstand, arguing there was little value in adding another voice on match day. From his perspective, crowding players’ minds would do more harm than good.
“I’m not that involved with the team on match day either,” Schmidt said.
But with a home World Cup a little more than a year away, there is also an argument that Kiss should be fully embedded in every aspect of the Wallabies environment.
Kiss has remained on the periphery at training and team meetings, but would there really be any downside to handing him the reins early against Italy?
Perhaps the most telling comments of the day came from France coach Fabien Galthié on the transition from Schmidt to Kiss.
“It’s never ideal when a head coach is about to step down … I find it disrupts the structure a bit,” GalthiĂ© said. “It’s not easy for him when the countdown has begun.
“There will be another change, which is difficult.
“International rugby doesn’t do handouts … we aren’t here to give handouts or pay tributes. We came here to take points and win matches.”
Kiss was spotted meeting captain Harry Wilson this week, no doubt discussing the months ahead.
One of Wilson’s most admirable qualities is that he is a no-bullshit kind of guy. Coaches often indoctrinate players to focus on process over outcomes, but Wilson has made it very clear he just wants to win.
He folded his arms in the post-match press conference, his frustration impossible to miss.
“It’s not good enough. There are 52,000 Australian supporters here,” Wilson said on the field after the match to Stan Sport. “We’re gutted, we’re hurting … and we need to get results. Talk is cheap. We need to get results for you.”
A tight British and Irish Lions series and that famous victory over South Africa at Ellis Park last year showed that this group is capable of matching the world’s best. But history also suggests World Cups are never won by teams stumbling through the previous season.
France and Ireland are elite opponents, but there was a time when Australia expected to beat them. France have now won five of their past six Tests against the Wallabies since 2021 — as many victories as they managed across the previous 28 years.
“We have to start getting results and I feel that acutely,” Schmidt said. “There are so many uncontrollables when you’re coaching.”
“We had pretty inexperienced halves, and we just can’t seem to get any luck at all around the team jersey and any continuity there.”
To be fair, losing two first-choice No.10s during the same Test week would derail almost any side. Hooker Josh Nasser’s concussion in the opening minutes was also a headache for Schmidt. The Wallabies had ample chances to ice the game but were run ragged by France’s outside backs, who moved the ball wide beautifully.
Next week will be Schmidt’s farewell, but how Australian rugby ultimately judges his tenure is difficult to know. A 38 per cent record – or thereabouts – is not what RA chief executive Phil Waugh would have envisaged when he proudly announced Schmidt’s appointment in early 2024.
RA could do worse than handing Kiss the keys to the Wallabies’ castle a week early. Don’t hold your breath.
“It’s been a massive privilege,” Schmidt said. “It’ll be great for someone else to step in and take the reins.
“What I would ask is that people keep showing some faith next week.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
About the Author
