Les Kiss has been confirmed as the successor to Joe Schmidt as Australia head coach, with the Queensland Reds coach signing a two-year contract to run from 2026 until 2028.

Schmidt will oversee Australia’s home series vs the British and Irish Lions this summer, live on Sky Sports, the 2025 Rugby Championship, also live on Sky Sports, and the 2025 Autumn Nations Series, with Kiss seeing out his Reds contract before taking the helm.

Kiss, 60, was a former assistant to Schmidt with Ireland from 2013 to 2015, and previous to that was defence coach under Declan Kidney for Ireland between 2009 and 2013.

The Australian went on to take roles with Ulster (2015-18) and London Irish (2018-23) – the latter under Kidney who worked as director of rugby at the club – before returning home to take over the Reds in Super Rugby in 2024.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time for Australian rugby and I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as Wallabies head coach from next year,” Kiss said. “Joe and I have a strong relationship and a long history of working together, and I am looking forward to building upon the excellent foundations he has laid with the Wallabies.”

The announcement sees the Wallabies confirm a fifth head coach in six years.

Michael Cheika resigned following the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat to England, Dave Rennie then took charge but was controversially sacked just ahead of the 2023 World Cup in France, at which point Eddie Jones sensationally returned on a five-year contract.

Jones was gone within nine months after a disastrous period in which Australia failed to make it out of a World Cup pool for the first time in their history, while Schmidt announced he will step away having been in charge since 2024, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

Schmidt had originally planned to depart after the Rugby Championship in October, but will now stay on into 2026 to facilitate a handover.

“My intention to finish at the end of this year’s Rugby Championship has been adjusted to fit with Les’ availability,” Schmidt said. “I think he’s doing a great job with the Reds, so it was important to dovetail with his responsibilities there.

“It has certainly been a privilege to be involved with the Wallabies – the staff and players have worked hard but we all know there’s a lot more hard work ahead of us with the British and Irish Lions here in a few months’ time.”

Australia will be the hosts of the next Rugby World Cup in 2027.

British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.