The Wallabies have been under a new coach since the end of July this year, and although Les Kiss has only coached seven games, the planned transition means the new Wallabies coach has a shorter grace period.
To date, the Wallabies have shown they can play 40 minutes of scintillating, dominant rugby in 2026, but have yet to produce a true 80-minute performance.
Although it is too optimistic to assume that it will all come together England at Twickenham this weekend, the game, and by extension November’s Nations Championship, must be a window for the Wallabies to show growth from the many “lessons” they talked about during 2026.
There are some outstanding positives to be pleased with: the efficiency of the 22m zone, the set piece and their discipline.
On the other hand, the Wallabies’ two main sources of pain were their defence, where they conceded an average of 31.4 points per game, and finishing their line breaks.
The latter of these issues is, as Kiss put it, ‘a question of pass selection’ rather than a lack of skill in the group.
Should the Wallabies make 17 line breaks against the English like they did against All black people in their most recent test, then you’d back them to complete almost half of them.
The first question is the most urgent, and it comes up especially around the middle of the field, and the second one around the problem.
Kiss picked the best 13th in the country by some distance, and one of the best 13th in the world at 12th against England, at Len Ikitau.
Not that Ikitau can’t be world class at 12th, but Kiss and the Australian public have to ask themselves: what is the likelihood of Ikitau staying at 12th for 2027? Rugby World Cup when are they all available?
If the Wallabies can find a center partnership they can stick with throughout November, namely Ikitau at No.12 and Isaac Henry at No.13, then they will be well on their way to becoming a much harder team to score against.
If this specific positional combination of inside and outside center doesn’t work out, then Kiss would repeat the mistake of selecting a center like his predecessor, Joe Schmidt, did.
There is a reason why midfield partnerships are so crucial to a side’s defense and why they are among the most important relationships in a rugby team.
They are the link between the slower progress on the inside and the lightning backs on the outside.
That’s why the partnerships of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith, Jean De Villiers and Jacque Fourie were so amazing, because despite their ability with the ball, they worked in tandem without it.
Now in the modern game, the center partnerships of Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, Damien De Allende and Jesse Kriel, and Stuart McCloskey and Gary Ringrose are the pillars of their sides’ attack, but most importantly in defence.
The Wallabies had six different center partnerships in 10 matches, despite most players being fit and available most of the time.
Len Ikitau inside and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii at outside center were the most used combination with a total of four appearances; the next most common combination is Hunter Paisami and Isaac Henry, which only happened twice; the other four combinations are one-time.
A settled combination has yet to be achieved under Kiss, so it’s little wonder why the midfield has been easy pickings for many of the Wallabies’ opponents.
Schmidt persisted with Ikitau, a natural No.13 at No.12, so he could insert wonderkid Joseph-Aukuso Suaali at outside center, and now Kiss has gone and done the same with Isaac Henry.
This mismatch between Kiss and Schmidt, and now the unavailability of Paisami, is slowing down the Wallabies’ bid to build a pair of centers to take the Wallabies to their home Rugby World Cup.
When you look at the picture of the selection on no. 12, there are three clear contenders: Kiss’ favorite no. 12, Paisami, who now has a complicated selection picture since he recently joined Shizuoka Blue Revs in Japan.
With Paisami’s selection window now governed by more than just the mandatory World Rugby Regulation-9 framework, Kiss may not see their preferred center combination as often as they would like from Paisami at No.12 and Ikitau at No.13.
Because make no mistake, despite a few early defensive lapses from Ikitau in his first game in the Wallabies number 13 jersey for some time, Paisami-Ikitau was by far the best center combination seen since 2024, when Schmidt took over.
After Paisami, it’s clear that Ikitau is preferred, but Henry should be the man wearing the number 12 shirt, especially if Kiss would optimally want to pick Ikitau at number 13 alongside Paisami.
However, 27-year-old Henry now has a golden opportunity to put his name firmly ahead of Angus Crichton and even Samu Kerevi.
Kerevi is still very much in the picture, but with every squad he isn’t selected for, it gives players like Paisami and Henry a chance to become indispensable to Kiss and his World Cup planning.
Henry has the ability to play with the ball, the varied skillset and the size to be a proper center at Test level, and despite a horrific run of injuries, he is now robust enough to handle the rigors of back-to-back Tests.
What he can do with the ball in hand is beyond question; what matters is how he combines with Ikitau, and this is how strong play from Henry helps the Wallabies improve their defence.
The Wallabies have shown weakness in defence, especially in midfield which dates back to the British and Irish Lions tour in 2025
This weakness has persisted in the systems of the two defensive coaches because, despite Schmidt consistently picking the same players, he backed the wrong combination in hindsight, and now Kiss has yet to settle on one.
Henry and Ikitau are actually a good match when it comes to defensive tendencies, but not like No.12 and No.13, but the other way around.
Both have decent spin and are physically capable of dominating oncoming attackers; the biggest difference in their defensive games is their ability to be aggressive.
Ikitau believes in his ability to shoot off the line and set up a spot attack; he has always had it in his game but it was sometimes badly exposed in 2026 when he switched to the number 13 jersey and now the number 12 jersey.
Henry displayed a more passive, controlled defensive ideology which also cost the Wallabies their defensive line integrity.
Several times during the All Blacks Tests, Henry sat when he should have pushed, drifted when he should have been man-to-man, and failed to cleanly wrap up an opposition player when he should have pulled out.
These two examples of the pair’s individual problems may sound like a terrible foundation to build on, but no center partnership gets off to a perfect start in the first few Tests, making it a must-click series of games now.
Henry is not a bad defensive player; in fact, his 90% catch percentage in all of his starts is one of the best percentages of any center; it is again a matter of connection, or trust, with those around him.
As a No. 13, his passivity trait undoes a lot of the good work done by defensive coach Scott McLeod’s system.
However, at No.12 his controlled nature could be the glue between the inside and outside players, allowing Ikitau to shoot and he has the gas to stitch up that hole.
McLeod’s system, in its purest form, builds defensive pressure in every attempt to allow individual hitters to make aggressive decisions down the chain to stop attacks when they see an opportunity.
It should have built-in shapes that allow that safety net to go hunting; but to date, the Wallaby players have not succeeded in this crucial finishing step often enough.
This is where the midfield becomes so crucial.
The positions are pulling and pushing in the accordion rhythm of the defensive line; when to stretch and when to pull back are both fine arts dictated by defensive generals in the center positions.
The centers don’t have to be the ones controlling it, but they often are, as they spend more time scanning the attack and less time with their heads stealing in rucks as back rowers.
A key breakdown in defensive form began there and continued against the All Blacks in the two Bledisloe matches.
A midfield that was unable to establish a proper push-and-pull rhythm left a tight five forwards covering too much space, and mismatched defensive lines led to weak shoulders and sporadic defensive efforts that fell apart.
That’s why this moment is so big for Henry; therefore he must take his opportunity in the UK during November and put down a marker.
Paisami is the favourite, Crichton is coming in, Kerevi is lurking and even Ikitau is now clearly seen as a more capable option in 12th.
If Henry wants to be number 13, as Kiss clearly favors him, then he needs to show this ability to be aggressive and squeaky clean in defence.
Again, it’s not about being able to survive England’s blunt force trauma and the Twickenham attack; it’s about creating a genuine Test-level partnership that other sides will fear, and the Wallabies can have a defensive focal point.
It’s early in Henry’s Test career to expect miracles, but as Kiss said, “the time we’ve got is the time we’ve got”, so now is the time to perform.
The Wallabies are not a good enough side to have players who are serviceable, but without game impact, week in, week out, and while Henry has done little wrong, this November tour is about doing a lot of things very right.
