There are just 430 days until the Wallabies begin their Rugby World Cup campaign next year in Perth but veteran prop Allan Alaalatoa says that’s more than enough time for new coach Les Kiss to make his mark and get the team firing.

After a clunky handover from Joe Schmidt, the Kiss era got under way in Sydney on Tuesday when the Wallabies squad gathered in camp ahead of a two-Test series with Japan next month.

Officially the Wallabies will only kick off in earnest on Wednesday when Kiss takes the squad for a first full training session on the very familiar surrounds of North Sydney Oval, where the former league winger played many of his 100 games as a Bears player.

But without another day to spare, the Wallabies got straight down to business with a soft launch on Tuesday, beginning with leadership and team meetings, and then a defensive walk-through session at the exclusive Cranbrook school, in Sydney’s east.

“He’s someone, just from listening to him in his meetings and presentations, he’s very excited, and he’s very passionate about the Wallabies and about us doing well,” Alaalatoa said.

“I’m just keen to learn more about him, and to understand why he does what he does. I’ve heard a lot of great things from like the boys who have been coached under him.

“There’s been a strong foundation that’s been built over the course of two years under Joe, and an understanding there’s some really good parts of [our] game we want to continue to grow, and we don’t want to remove. But there are also little shifts that he wants to add, which he will do over time.”

While the stylistic continuity between Kiss and Schmidt, his former Ireland boss, has been much-touted by Rugby Australia, Kiss has also given hints he will be his own man and intends to add more parts to the Wallabies’ game in the next year.

After naming his squad last week, and in media appearances since, Kiss has pointed towards a more expansive mentality than Schmidt, who is notoriously restrained in his attacking philosophy.

“My points of difference will be how I see the game in attack,” Kiss told Wide World of Sports at the weekend. “I work off a strong principle of going forward but I do like a lot more width in the game. And I am probably more of a collaborative type of coach, and making sure every coach has a part to play.”

The Reds, under Kiss, have been Australia’s most adventurous side in the last three years, with forwards running in wide channels and a clear intention to strike on counter. They’ve been one of Super Rugby’s top teams for tries scored and offloads for the past few seasons.

“Looking at the Reds’ attack, they definitely played a more expansive type of game of footy, which worked for them at Super,” Alaalatoa said. “We’ll just see if that’s something that he wants to bring in.”

After years of structured attack, a riskier, ad-hoc style is the new black in world rugby and on the back of much-improved fundamentals brought in by Schmidt, Kiss’s entry may be a timely upgrade.

But his remarks about being “collaborative” as a coach were also telling, given Schmidt’s reputation as an alpha head coach. And it was equally noteworthy the first session of the Kiss era was largely handed over to new defence coach Scott McLeod.

McLeod, who was an assistant with New Zealand for five years and helped the All Blacks to the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, has replaced veteran Laurie Fisher as defence coach and insiders say the most significant shifts in the Wallabies game will likely come in their work without the ball.

“He [Kiss] hasn’t really spoken, or gone into depth, about those changes yet at the moment, but what we do know is that we probably are going to make small shifts in the way we defend to get ourselves back the ball,” Alaalatoa said.

“Those are things we’re going to walk through this afternoon and get to run at pace tomorrow. We’ll probably get to know more through as the week builds.”

Kiss may have only 14 months until the 2027 World Cup begins, but Alaalatoa says there is more than enough time – and, importantly, enough Test matches – for the Kiss era to generate success.

There are still 19 Tests to be played before Australia’s World Cup opener against Hong Kong China on October 1, 2027.

“For sure – with the amount of Test matches we have as well, there’s plenty of quality matches that we have together that will put us in good stead to achieve the goal,” he said.

“If you look at the calendar year next year, there’s a whole Rugby Championship and then there’s an Ireland game in Canberra. So there’s plenty of footy together that will put us in good stead to make sure we have all the preparation we need heading into that World Cup.”