Reds sign contract for Australian All Blacks professional team

In the Queensland Reds’ latest quirky undertaking, Aidan Ross, a one-Test All Black who made his debut against Ireland in 2022, will cross the ditch with the Chiefs after next year’s Super Rugby season and link up with the Les Kiss squad. Mid 2025.

But before United’s colors run out, Joe Schmidt may be rubbing his hands together and thinking he can pull on the gold jersey first. In fact, the New Zealander has played a key role in helping Australia secure a national squad, so it is understood that his two-year contract includes an additional fee for the national team.

Indeed, the Gosford-born 29-year-old, who played his only Test for the All Blacks on July 9, 2022, spent his first eight years on Australian shores and only qualified to play for the Wallabies a week before their first England game. Irish Lions Test on 19 July.

For a nation that has always been the target of a scrum, Schmidt will be glad to have another option up his sleeve in case he needs to be called up immediately.

Aidan Ross has played in one Test for the All Blacks in 2022 but could play for the Wallabies in 2025 after signing a two-year deal with the Reds. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Ross has never made international headlines like Angus Bell or Taniela Tupou, but this loose head is the type of seasoned campaigner every coach would love to have.

Having anchored the Chiefs’ scrum for many years, Ross’s gray beard indicates a man who knows a thing or two about the dark arts, only discovered after compressing thousands of scrums.

The 118kg former All Black has been a regular in the best Chiefs teams in recent seasons, having played in the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific finals and the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa finals.

Ross did not say his decision to return to Australia was to run out of gold, but it would not have been lost on him that former Blues prop Alex Hodgman became only the fourth player in Test history to play in the All. The Blacks and Wallabies striker came off the bench against Georgia in July.

He will get the chance to showcase his skills when Liverpool take on the Lions in Brisbane on July 2.

“I’ve been with the Chiefs since Day Dot. I want the team to have a big season in 2025 and finish in a big way. I owe so much to the franchise, coaches and teammates who shaped me into the rugby player I am,” Ross said.

“Beyond that, this is a great time to do something different abroad.

“The charm of Australia is that you can go there even if you are not a foreign player. My partner and I now have a family with little one (17 months old) Albie, so being close to family is also attractive.”

Aidan Ross will call Ballymore home in 2026 after signing a two-year deal with the Reds. Photo: Queensland Reds Media

Ross will also be encouraged by the Reds’ progress over the last 12 months.

While Brad Thorn’s Reds pulled off one of the biggest upsets of 2023 by knocking the Chiefs across the ditch, the arrival of Kiss and his impressive coaching team saw Queensland grow under new management.

Players with potential such as Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson will take their game to a higher level in 2024, while set-pieces are a weapon after years of disappointing results under Thorn’s coaching regime. It has been done.

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Les Kiss have lured another great player to Ballymore. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Zane Hilton’s arrival at the Reds is likely one of the reasons for the improvement in set-piece play, with the forward assistant one of the best young skills coaches in the country.

“The Reds have great facilities at Ballymore and we have long respected the club’s DNA, having had big wins and big defeats when we have met on the pitch,” Ross said.

“After speaking with their coaches, I realized how fascinating it would be to work for them.

“Like I said, it’s for the future. I will be with Chiefs next season.”

Ross looks set to replace Sef Fa’agase, who will soon turn 34, and recently signed a one-year contract extension to keep the prop until the end of the 2025 season.

The Reds have arguably their best squad since Quade Cooper led Queensland to their only Super Rugby title in 2011.

Their rebuilding mission was led by general manager Sam Cordingley, who had enjoyed an impressive season at Ballymore.