The 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season kicks off this weekend and Australia needs its four provinces to make a stirring statement ahead of the 2027 home World Cup. No local side has won the men’s competition, or even made the final, since Michael Cheika’s NSW Waratahs upset now 13-time champions the Crusaders in 2014. If the Wallabies want to conquer the world, it has got to start with beating the neighbours.
The year after his Super triumph, Cheika took the Wallabies to the Rugby World Cup final (losing to New Zealand 34-17) and Rugby Australia will be praying for a repeat act in 2026. Ideally it’s the Cinderella story of Les Kiss leading the Queensland Reds to glory before he takes the reins from Joe Schmidt as Wallabies coach this July, a feat that would supercharge the Kiss era and ignite home fans before next October’s tournament.
Australian rugby starts the new year full of hope. The code is finally out of debt after a bumper British & Irish Lions tour. Three prodigal sons are returning from the NRL – winger Mark Nawaqanitawase, flyhalf Carter Gordon and utility Angus Crichton. Australia’s sevens women consistently challenge New Zealand as the No 1 side in the world, and seven Indigenous players have followed RA’s pathways into the national sides.
Despite the Wallabies losing a record 10 Tests in 2025 their four wins were rich in character, most notably the epic comeback over world champions South Africa – from 22-0 down to win 38-22 – was vivid proof Australia can blitz the best in the sport on their day. They are still ranked seventh behind the Springboks, All Blacks, England, France, Ireland and Argentina, but have 14 Tests this year to find their mojo again before a cushy World Cup draw.
Round one of this year’s Super Rugby Pacific draw is state v state and mate v mate. The Reds face off with the Waratahs (13 February in Sydney) and the Western Force meet the Brumbies (14 February in Perth). Everything is up for grabs: personal pride, domestic bragging rights, Wallabies spots and World Cup honours, but most of all, fulfilment of a promise RA made to its ragged band of fans: a golden era of success is nigh.
First, the Wallabies need a flyhalf to alchemise the side. Schmidt trialled seven 10s last year. Noah Lolesio was injured against Fiji so Tom Lynagh got three Tests against the Lions before suffering concussion. James O’Connor’s rocks/diamonds run in the Rugby Championship meant Tane Edmed and Carter Gordon stepped in on the Spring tour. Ben Donaldson and Hamish Stewart were briefly tried off the bench.
Yet the year ended with the first winless tour of Europe in 58 years and Australia no closer to finding a playmaker to rival Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the Springboks’ wizard flyhalf. With Lolesio and O’Connor now overseas, Edmed has moved to the Brumbies to learn from Stephen Larkham, the No 10 who led the Wallabies’ World Cup triumph in 1999. The Force have Donaldson and the Tahs, veteran Jack Debreczeni.
Kiss has the most tantalising talents at the Reds: the flashy Gordon, back in rugby after a luckless stint in NRL and cool-hand Lynagh, son of 72-Test great Michael. Their duel for the Queensland 10 jersey could mirror that for the gold version come the Tests in winter where Schmidt’s Wallabies play Ireland, France and Italy before Kiss’s Wallabies enter a home-and-away Japan series and a two-Test tour of Argentina.
Gordon, at 22, was Eddie Jones’s shock pick to lead the 2023 World Cup campaign. He moved on from that disaster by defecting to rugby league but a spinal fluid leak derailed the dream. “Both experiences were unfortunate but neither was a failure,” he said. “It was all character-building and eye-opening. I’m only 25, far from the finished product. Hard work has put me in a good headspace. I’m ready to rip in.”
After four concussions, Lynagh, 22, has a different headspace to worry about. He has bulked up from 83kg to 88kg. “I’m still a little guy but I’m stronger and faster, quicker off the mark, wearing thicker armour,” he said. “The concussions got me down for a bit, but Joe and Les have shown a lot of belief and trust. The Reds and Wallabies are all about fierce defence and an attacking mindset and I’m confident I can bring that.”
The Gordon-Lynagh battle at the Reds symbolises Australia’s wider war in 2026. Kiss played his football at North Sydney Oval where the local school’s maxim is vincit qui se vincit (“conquer yourself to conquer the world”). If Australian rugby wants success, players and coaches must first outgun the rivals in their midst, driving each other to greater heights. Only then will the Wallabies strike fear in enemies across the seas.
