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Iain Payten

Iain Payten

Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Current Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt (L) and incoming Wallabies head coach Les Kiss.

The Wallabies are back, but incoming coach Les Kiss is nowhere to be seen. This is why

In an unusual mid-season baton change, Kiss will take over from Joe Schmidt at the end of July. The transfer plan is complex – and potentially contentious.

  • Iain Payten

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Edie Burke and father Matt

Why a Wallabies legend shed a tear watching his daughter follow in his footsteps

Matt Burke scaled the heights in rugby, playing for NSW and the Wallabies. But the pride in watching his daughter Edie debut for the Waratahs topped it all.

  • Iain Payten
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.

Schmidt’s new coaching role in Australian rugby revealed

Joe Schmidt will finish up as Wallabies head coach in July, but he won’t be lost to Australian rugby, having agreed to a new role for later this year.

  • Iain Payten
PERTH, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 04: James Slipper of the Wallabies walks off the field for his final game through a guard of honour during The Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup match between Australia Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks at Optus Stadium on October 04, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Slipper to make Wallabies comeback amid front-row injury crisis

The Wallabies’ most-capped player in history farewelled international rugby last year in emotional scenes. Eight months later, he’s back.

  • Iain Payten
Australia’s Max Jorgensen, right, pounces on the ball to score a try during the rugby union Nations Series match between France and Australia in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

‘They’ll be sending their best’: Waugh confident of French force as demand for Wallabies rolls on

Australian interest in Super Rugby may be dwindling but public hunger to watch Test rugby shows no signs of abating, with another Wallabies Test already sold out.

  • Iain Payten
Maddi Levi, with a strapped knee, scoring a try in the final against New Zealand.

From a leg brace to grand final MVP in eight days: Maddison Levi’s miracle return

Australian superstar scored two tries in the final against New Zealand to help her side secure the World Sevens championship. Just a few days earlier, she could barely run.

  • Iain Payten
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The Brumbies look dejected in Wellington.

Brumbies thrashed by record margin, veteran star set to play on

James Slipper is in talks to postpone retirement plans and play on for the Brumbies - at least - next season.

  • Iain Payten
Lehopoame Leota, who plays for Racing 92 in France.

France-based giants picked for Junior Wallabies in major RA policy shift

In response to dozens of talented young Aussies joining French academies, Rugby Australia will now pick players from offshore for its biggest junior rep team.

  • Iain Payten
Waratahs graphic for end of season autopsy.

Blue it again: Five graphs that explain another failed Waratahs season

As always, the Tahs season promised so much but has ended before the finals even begin. Here’s where it went wrong.

  • Iain Payten
Carlo Tizzano celebrates one of his two tries.

Miserable Waratahs season ends with defeat and serious injury to Wallabies star

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s barnstorming performance was the only positive on a night to forget for NSW in Perth.

  • Iain Payten