The Wallabies almost beat themselves in Osaka, but Kiss won’t apply the shackles

New Wallabies coach Les Kiss says he will continue to back his players to chance their arm in attack, but he wants them to be smart about when they do it after a mistake-riddled victory over Japan in Osaka.

In sapping 30-degree heat and humidity, the Kiss era got off to a winning start on Saturday, but it was anything but smooth sailing for the new coach and Wallabies fans, with a strong showing from Japan and a bag full of Australian errors turning the contest into a thriller.

The Wallabies got enough right to score five tries and get home 35-32, based largely on character, which was tested by a red card for Miles Amatosero that left Australia with 14 men for a quarter of the game.

But while there was confidence taken from grinding out a win in oppressive conditions, the Wallabies are aware they have much tidying up to do ahead of a second clash with Japan in Townsville on Saturday.

The Wallabies defended in their own half for large periods of the game, and were their own worst enemy with ineffective kicking and handling errors as they sought to break the Japanese defence through offloads, quick taps and pressure passes.

The Wallabies were ultimately fortunate Japan botched their shot at an upset by making more errors than Australia.

After the more low-risk Joe Schmidt game plan, one of the big parts of Kiss’ “evolution” is he will encourage players to express themselves with their skills. But after a tense win in which players, at times, over-expressed themselves, Kiss said he would not shackle them, however game management would be a focus of their review.

“It’s a balance of backing yourself and managing the game at the right time,” Kiss said.

“I just ask us to be skilful when we’re doing it [offloading]. In the nature of the game at times, we probably said let’s just hold that a little bit longer and put them under pressure more. We probably didn’t make them tackle enough.

“Maybe a couple of kicks was the right decision … twice we didn’t kick it out from our 20, and that put them back on top of us. Added defensive pressure takes a bit of energy out of you.”

Halfback Ryan Lonergan said the difficult conditions were a factor – he likened it to playing in Fiji – but said the Wallabies made life hard for themselves.

“He [Kiss] has given us the licence to play – he’s all for us having a crack, and if we see space we take it – and now it’s up to us to know when we can really get to that space and make use of it,” he said.

“He actually spoke about that in the sheds, so we’ll review hard. We played into their hands a little bit; we didn’t make it overly easy for ourselves.

“It was always going to be like that with those conditions. It’s just so tough to be able to not only move around at the speed you want to, but be able to handle the ball. It gets so slippery.”

Lonergan also praised Japan, who have shown they are one of the world’s most improved teams this year, with a win over Italy and close losses to Ireland and Australia.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” he said. “Japan are so good, particularly here at home.

“I think a lot of teams take them lightly, and they’re a class team. We weren’t our best, but Japan pushed us pretty well.”

The Wallabies and Japan flew on the same charter plane to Brisbane on Sunday, ahead of the Townsville clash. Kiss flagged some changes for the rematch.

“This trip took a lot out of a lot of guys, so I’m going to have to look at where the energy is,” he said. “I’d imagine there might be one or two tweaks just to help is get through this period.”

Amatosero faces suspension for his red card for hitting Dearns with his shoulder at a ruck. There was mitigation in Dearns falling late, but Amatosero ticked enough “reckless” boxes by charging into the ruck and tucking his arm. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto is every chance to replace him, and the big man may also be needed to counsel Amatosero on how to be an enforcer without stepping over the line and damaging the team.

“Maybe he could have controlled that a bit more, I don’t know,” Kiss said. “But ultimately, look, he’s upset in there. I won’t say too much more about it.”

Tom Hooper is a chance to return after a shoulder injury sidelined him for the past three Tests, but Len Ikitau won’t be back. Kiss has the luxury of not desperately needing him either, with the back-rowers all strong and Hunter Paisami impressive in his return.

Kiss also has a call to make at No.10. Carter Gordon is back after injury and Declan Meredith had an off night in Osaka.