Ex-Ireland assistant coach Les Kiss will take over as head coach of Australia next year. Kiss will succeed Joe Schmidt - who was Ireland head coach for six years - at the conclusion of the 2026 World Nations Cup. Phil Waugh, Rugby Australia chief executive, hailed the appointment of the 60-year-old. “I did joke (with Les) … saying ‘welcome home’ but it’s great to have someone who’s been embedded in the system for a long period of time, understands the history of Australian rugby, and has spent time offshore,” Waugh said. “We’ve ended up in a really elegant solution here which provides certainty.” After reaching the highest levels of rugby league in his playing career, Kiss assisted Declan Kidney in guiding Ireland to their first Grand Slam in 61 years in 2009. He stayed with the Irish national system until 2014 when he became interim director of rugby at Ulster, eventually transitioning to the role full time in 2015. Kiss was appointed head coach at London Irish in 2019, guiding the team to promotion and consistently strong results in the Premiership until the club fell into administration in 2023. He then took over as head coach of the Super Rugby side Queensland Reds. Kiss said he will see out his contract with the Reds before officially taking over the Wallabies role. “I’m really comfortable about the process, I’m really comfortable in terms of understanding where I’ll land with this,” Kiss said. “Talking to the players at the Reds, I’d imagine there’s some good conversations happening in the other states as well. “It’s an important period and we’ve got good people working away to make sure we get that right. “Going through the chats and the odd chat with Joe (Schmidt) as well, it gives me a lot of confidence about where Australian rugby is going. Those are things that are massively important and underpin what we do.” He continued: “It’s not just about one person, it’s a team and it’s a powerful team that we have together. The players have a lot of confidence in what’s happening in Australian rugby at the moment. “I’m not here to rip and tear, I’m going to make sure I dovetail as much as I can and I’ll bring my points of difference into play but (Schmidt and I) have a lot of things in common.” Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.