Les Kiss will take charge of the Australia-New Zealand invitational team, which will face the British & Irish Lions in Adelaide. This match will take place one week before the first Wallabies test.
Kiss will join Ian Foster, who had already been announced as part of the coaching staff.
The confirmation of Kiss as coach of the AU-NZ team was expected, and it arrived along with the news that Toutai Kefu, Wallabies legend, will lead the First Nations Pacific Islands team, which will face the tourists between the first and second tests.
Kiss and Foster will be in charge of finalizing a squad of around 25 players, which could include All Blacks Richie Mo’unga, Aaron Smith and Brodie Retallick, and Wallabies Matt Phillip and Samu Kerevi, as well as other Australian players who could be on the fringes of Joe Schmidt’s team.
It is a privilege to be able to lead the coaching group of the AUNZ Invitational XV team.
Les Kiss
Kiss will also have the opportunity to train against the Lions, as the Reds face Andy Farrell’s team in the second match of their tour.
Kefu will have various options to consider, with First Nations backs such as Kurtley Beale, Andy Muirhead and Harrison Goddard, and Leafi Talataina, Feao Fotuaika and Sef Fa’agase.
Kefu could also strengthen his team by looking for talent in the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika franchises.
Kefu expressed his honor at being named head coach of the First Nations and Pacific Islands first team.
I am honored to be named head coach of the First Nations and Pasifika XV first team.
Kefu
The Lions were originally scheduled to face the Melbourne Rebels after the first test in Perth, but due to the demise of that franchise, an alternative had to be found.
Rugby Australia (RA) has recently honored the Indigenous contribution to the game in Australia through the introduction of an Indigenous Wallabies jersey, but this combined concept is the first of its kind in the country.
