Les Kiss insisted that his Australia team must temper their ambitions after the Wallabies won their first match under his stewardship in a frantic Test match against Japan. 

Kiss oversaw his first game since replacing Joe Schmidt at Hanazono Rugby Stadium, with his side able to give him a winning start with a hard-fought 35-32 triumph. 

Japan threatened to earn a historic first Test win over Australia, taking an early lead through Ryunosuke Ito before Harry Potter quickly levelled things up for Australia. 

Tom Wright then crossed over the line only to see his try wiped out by Faulua Makis, with Australia forced to see out the rest of the first half with a man less after Miles Amatosero received a 20-minute red card ‌for a ⁠high tackle on Warner Dearns. 

But even with a numerical disadvantage, the Wallabies pulled ahead when Max Jorgensen went over, but Japan would not go away as Kazuma ​Ueda kept the match close. 

Australia flanker Fraser McReight piled over back down the other end before two penalties from Takuro Matsunaga, though Australia were able to show their composure late on. 

Taniela Tupou powered over in the 68th minute to open up a ten-point lead, and even when Dearns got the back within three points three minutes from time, Australia held firm to get Kiss up and running in his first match at the helm.

"[Japan are] a good team. They play fast and hard, and at home in their own backyard, they're a tough team to play against," Kiss told Stan Sport.

"[We] probably offered a few too many opportunities for them. Some kicking went astray [and we] overplayed a couple of times.

"You want to be able to be ambitious, while at the same time temper that. Overall, that's a Test win. Well done boys."

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Arigatō gozaimasu, @JRFURugby pic.twitter.com/QfB6OcTJ72

— Wallabies (@wallabies) August 8, 2026

Japan entered the match having never beaten Australia, but were in good form after beating Italy and showing promise against Ireland and France in the Nations Championship.

Victory for Australia means they have won consecutive Test matches for the first time in 12 months, after brushing aside Italy in Perth last month.

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson was pleased with the result, but conceded that discipline in both attack and defence was going to be a big focus in training in preparation for the second Test.

"We let ourselves down with a few fundamental errors ​in the last 20 minutes when we had an opportunity to probably put Australia away, so pretty disappointed, mate," said Jones.

"But yeah, I'm really proud of how ​hard the players are playing, and there's a lot of development in this team."