Wallabies coach Les Kiss “learned rugby” during his two-year stint with the Springboks. CLINTON VAN DER BERG reports.
When Les Kiss walks into an Australian dressing room these days, he does so as the man tasked with rebuilding the Wallabies. But the coaching education that shaped him began in an unlikely place, on the training fields of South African rugby, more than two decades ago, under a coach few in Australia would recognise.
Kiss’ path to the Springboks came almost by accident. While coaching rugby league with the Northern Eagles NRL club, he crossed paths with Harry Viljoen, then in charge of the Springboks, who happened to be observing training. That chance meeting led to an offer: come to South Africa and run the national team’s defence.
Viljoen had been appointed Springbok head coach in October 2000, succeeding Nick Mallett. Kiss joined his coaching group shortly after, remaining in the role until Viljoen’s resignation in January 2002, a stint that lasted two years.
The Australian was viewed as little more than a curiosity by SA fans, unsure of quite who he was and what he was there to do. Viljoen, ever the maverick, was trying something different.
The Viljoen era started promisingly, with wins over Ireland and Wales on the 2000 end-of-year tour, before turning difficult. In 2001, the Springboks won just five of 11 Tests, lost twice to France, finished bottom of the Tri-Nations, and suffered a third straight defeat to England. Viljoen soon resigned, citing media pressure.
Kiss, a former wing with the North Sydney Bears, learned his craft amid genuine turbulence.
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Whatever the scoreboard said, he has repeatedly credited the experience as formative. Speaking to The42 in 2016, he reflected on Viljoen’s leadership: “The style he had was to empower people and I learned a lot in that period about how, as a leader, he extended trust. If you are extended that trust, how do you return it?”
Speaking to ESPN ahead of taking the Wallabies job, he went further: “I learned rugby through the eyes of the Springboks really, through South African rugby and a very heavy attrition game, 10-man rugby. Learning the game through that was a gift.”
That coaching journey, via the Waratahs, Ireland, Ulster, London Irish and Queensland, has now delivered Kiss the top job in Australian rugby, taking over from Joe Schmidt last month ahead of a home World Cup in 2027.
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His Bok-bred defensive instincts are already visible. Unveiling his first squad, Kiss said he wants defence to become “a weapon for us, so we can attack with it.”
He has also spoken of building a team unafraid to “explore how good we can be,” while respecting rugby’s “rock solid” fundamentals.
He’s gained three wins from his first four Tests, performances built heavily through forward carries, prompting one writer to note the Wallabies are looking “more reminiscent of the Springboks” than the Australia of old.
Next Sunday will tell us more.
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Photo: Tertius Pickard/Gallo Images
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Wallabies coach Les Kiss “learned rugby” during his two-year stint with the Springboks.
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