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There was good, bad and plenty of ugly but the Les Kiss era is off to a winning start. Despite searing heat and a brave home side, the Wallabies shrugged off an early red card and a litany of reckless errors to welcome their new coach to international rugby with a brave and dramatic victory over Japan in Osaka.
Against an unpredictable Brave Blossoms side coached by the former Wallabies mentor Eddie Jones, the former rugby league player, who is coaching Australia’s union side despite never having played the game, escaped the ambush Jones laid for him and comes home with a heartening triumph.
But it was not easy. Japan’s frantic play had Australia under siege early, with rapid breakdown work and precision passes feeding their express pace on the edges. With Naoto Saito’s clever kicks keeping Australia pinned in their half, the heatwave hit the visitors allowing Ryunosuke Ito to zip behind the lines and score.
The Wallabies hit back quickly, Hunter Paisami bursting through out wide to scatter the defence and allow Harry Potter to slice through and equalise. But with just 35% possession, Australia were on the back foot for most of the first quarter, clumsy errors and disjointed link play kiboshing each attacking raid.
Kiss had reshuffled Joe Schmidt’s pack, making nine changes to the side that beat Italy 57-10 last month. The initial disconnection soon settled and despite Japan’s dominance, Australia took the lead in the 27th minute as a lineout sparked a lovely looping charge that climaxed with Tom Wright crossing in the corner.
Miles Amatosero had won a first Test start, but the big lock’s impetuosity cost his side a third try as a reckless high shot within sight of the try line earned him a yellow card. Japan successfully salted the wound, barrelling downfield through Shuhei Takeuchi and sending Faulua Makisi under the posts.
It left the Test locked at 14-all at half-time and when Amatosero’s yellow card was upgraded to a red, leaving Australia a man short for 20 minutes, the advantage tipped to the home side.
Australia had allowed nine line breaks in the half and their three-Test playmaker, Declan Meredith, was struggling, spraying his kicks and passes.
Jones had tuned his tactics to the heat Osaka had endured all week, aiming to exhaust and frustrate Australia, but Kiss had a counter plan. Knowing the Wallabies had led all three Tests in 2026 at half-time yet converted only one into victory, he had created his own Bomb Squad of finishers to arrest the second-half struggles.
One of those bombers, the prop Angus Bell, got Australia rolling in the second half, splitting Japan up the middle. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii bent the line further, deftly flick-passing to Max Jorgensen on the fly. He popped a pass over the top to Ryan Lonergan then looped back to crash over as Australia snatched back the lead.
That ascendancy lasted a minute as Japan’s speedboats outflanked the slow-moving tankers in gold, Kazuma Ueda waltzing into space and bolting away. But Australia did not sulk. Bell won a turnover, Meredith drilled a kick and Fraser McReight iced the pick-and-drive with a low punch run over the line.
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As Lonergan’s fourth conversion extended the Wallabies’ lead to nine, Kiss went for broke, sending out Taniela Tupou and Jeremy Williams to muscle his men home. Japan refused to yield, emptying their own bench. Australia’s discipline again cost them dearly as Japan calmly cut the margin to three with two penalty goals.
Harry Wilson had two chances for penalties of his own, but instead the captain backed his scrum from close range. The gamble backfired when Meredith tapped and ran without consent, giving the ball back when his side were close to scoring again. Australia made it worse by fumbling more kicks and throwing needless wild passes.
The Wallabies had been averaging 38 points a Test in 2026, the most since 1985. But only one of those had ended in victory as Ireland ran them down in Sydney and France ran them ragged in Brisbane. Now Japan, the world No 10, were looming larger than the Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Australia shrugged off their woes by grinding grimly and slowly. Jorgensen made some slicing runs and Charlie Cale, off the bench for his first Test since 2024, lifted the tempo further. Finally, the Wallabies staggered into the red zone for Tupou to rumble over.
Although Japan scored a late try, Australia had done enough to win. They now come home to Kiss’s home state of Queensland for a rematch in Townsville. The mercury is not likely to drop there, but when you are a Wallabies coach with a home World Cup looming, the heat will always be on.
