Rugby Australia to offer World Cup contracts to new assistants as they plan for Wallabies departures
The looming departure of key Wallabies staff has added more uncertainty to their World Cup build-up, as mass upheaval looms during the coaching transition from Joe Schmidt to Les Kiss.
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Up to three Wallabies assistant coaching positions may need to be filled by the end of the year, as mass upheaval looms amid the transition between Joe Schmidt to Les Kiss before the World Cup.
Lineout coach Geoff Parling will leave at the end of the British & Irish Lions series after securing the head coaching role at Leicester Tigers.
Scrum coach Mike Cron’s contract also runs out at the end of the Lions series and he is expected to step down.
Fellow assistant Laurie Fisher had indicated he would be stepping away from the Wallabies set-up later this year, but Rugby Australia officials are urging him to stay on until the end of the 2027 World Cup to maintain some stability amid the numerous changes to come.
COMMENT: Rugby Australia’s Schmidt-Kiss master plan an uninspiring gamble
Schmidt will coach on until next July before handing over to Kiss, who will only have 15 months to plot a successful home World Cup in his first international head coaching role.
And he could well be working alongside a bunch of strangers.
While Kiss and Schmidt will be consulted along the way in the recruitment of the assistant coaches, RA is committed to filling the roles with applicants who best suit the system set up for the Wallabies over the past 18 months.
Sources said it won’t be a jobs-for-the-boys scenario. While previous working relationships with Schmidt or Kiss could help, it will ultimately come down to how the individual applicants’ skill sets fit in with the roles to fill.
Waratahs scrum coach Dan Palmer, Brumbies forwards coach Ben Mowen, Queensland forwards coach Zane Hilton and Western Force forwards coach Tom Donnelly would all have strong claims for involvement in the Wallabies set-up.
But others from overseas could also emerge as the race begins to firstly replace Parling, and then potentially Cron, within the next 12 weeks.
RA will make appointments until the end of the World Cup, so there won’t be another overhaul when Kiss takes over in July 2026.
Parling returns to the club he played for, replacing outgoing former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
“There’s still plenty of work to do with the Wallabies and I am very much focused on the immediate challenges ahead with the British & Irish Lions Series just around the corner,” Parling said.
“I have felt incredibly privileged to work with a number of great people in my time here and would especially like to thank Joe for the environment he has created at the Wallabies.
“My family and I originally came to Australia for seven months and will now be leaving after seven years proud to call ourselves Australian citizens, and lucky to have lived in such a great community. I’m looking forward to continuing to work hard with our great staff and leaving Australia on a positive note.”
RA’s director of high performance, Peter Horne said: “We are obviously sad to see him go but we understand the opportunity presented to him by Leicester Tigers is a good one for his family and career.
“The Wallabies look forward to working with Geoff through the Lions series and he will always be a friend of Australian rugby.”
Meanwhile, NSW Waratahs are desperate to keep alive their slim finals hopes against the Crusaders on Friday night, their final home game of the season at Allianz Stadium.
“It’s heightened for us because it’s essentially a must-win, and you get to challenge yourself as a group,” Tahs hooker Dave Porecki said.
“I am going out there to win and I want to win well; so, you want to win with a bonus point and the table will take care of itself.”
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Originally published as Rugby Australia to offer World Cup contracts to new assistants as they plan for Wallabies departures
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