The heat is on for new Wallabies coach Les Kiss – both physically and metaphorically – as he prepares for a sprint to next year’s World Cup, beginning in sweltering Osaka on Saturday.
The temperature for the clash against Japan is forecast to climb to a steamy 36C in the day before the evening kick-off. The only thing that would make the short runway to next year’s showpiece tournament more uncomfortable for Kiss would be an embarrassing first loss to the Brave Blossoms.
Despite the pressure, Kiss said he is enjoying his first weeks as Wallabies coach, even using the word “cool” to describe the experience. “I’m really enjoying this process and obviously, it comes down to 80 minutes where it won’t be cooling – it will be quite heated, won’t it? It will be quite hot.”
Australian rugby cannot afford to be an embarrassment at its own World Cup next year, and Kiss understands the stakes are high. “Smooth waters at the moment,” he said. “They can get rough at any time, and I’m ready for the ride.”
He has not seen fit to implement radical changes in his first XV, retaining the bulk of the side that ended Joe Schmidt’s tenure with six losses and then a win last month against Italy.
Scrum-half Ryan Lonergan is retained as the starter with Tate McDermott coming off the bench. Lonergan’s Brumbies clubmate Declan Meredith will wear No 10, keeping Carter Gordon – fully fit after a calf injury – out of the 23. Ben Donaldson will provide back up off the bench.
“You’ve got to get that balance right about how much you tinker,” Kiss said. “I know the thing that’ll come straight back at me if I said that these guys had their spot now, they’d look me back and say they want to earn it every time. No one has a right to this position.”
Hunter Paisami comes in for injured John Eales Medallist Len Ikitau at inside centre, but the rest of the backline is unchanged from the team that put 38 on Italy in the first half in Perth last month. There are more changes in the forward pack however, including first Wallabies starts for prop Aidan Ross and second rower Miles Amatosero.
Kiss said the team was chosen with one eye to the future, balanced with who can help the Wallabies navigate what will be a tricky opponent. But he added even the balance between the XV and the bench was made specifically with Saturday’s conditions in mind.
“It’s a little bit of horses for courses, just to make sure that we know how we can finish, and put guys with experience that can come out and put some energy and finishing power into a game, certainly. But at the same time, I think we start with a pretty powerful team as well,” he said.
“[Japan] are a fast, physical, dynamic team, they’re pretty fit as well, so we’re going to have to be on our toes right through to the 80[th minute], that’s for sure. We saw it happen last year [when the Wallabies won 19-15], it was a tight tussle and at home they are a different proposition to anything else.”
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Last month Japan defeated Italy 27-10 before losses to Ireland and France, but neither were blowouts. Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said his team had come away impressed after watching. “We saw the way they beat Italy, it was an unbelievable match, how well they played and across all the areas a really strong forward pack – quite a big forward pack too, which I think Japan probably haven’t had as much in the past. Even against France, they were in that game for a large part of it.”
Once minnows, the Japanese side sit just two places below No. 8 Australia on the world rankings, and under former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones almost engineered a historic upset in Tokyo last year.
“We saw last year that we’re getting closer and believe that if there is a gap now, it’s going to be minimised again this weekend,” Jones said. “There is a lot of pressure on Australia. They’ve got a very experienced team, and they will be expected to win, so we want to make sure we’re putting pressure on them right from the start.”
Japan’s team is bolstered by four naturalised Australians: Dylan Riley, Jack Cornelsen, Ben Gunter, and Harry Hockings. Wilson knows the latter well. “I’m really good mates with him. I went to his wedding a couple of years ago, so I can’t say there’s any anger towards him,” he said.
Hockings, 28, left the Reds in 2020 to play in Tokyo and debuted for the Brave Blossoms last year. “I’m really happy to see him playing for Japan now,” Wilson said. “He obviously has been over here for quite a while and has poured in everything to which Japan’s about, and now he’s going to play for their national team which is cool. But in saying that, you definitely want to get one over him as a mate of him, anyway.”
