Young playmaker Noah Lolesio has been advised to aim for solid, not spectacular, when he slips back on the problematic Wallabies no.10 jersey against the Springboks in Adelaide on Saturday.
For the third time in his 11-Test career, Lolesio has gone from overlooked to centre stage and will be given another chance to nail down the five-eighth position with a solid performance against the Boks.
The Wallabies team won’t be named until Thursday but forwards coach Dan McKellar let the cat out of the bag about Lolesio’s recall in a press conference, in which he spoke about the 22-year-old getting another shot in the wake of Quade Cooper’s injury and James O’Connor’s axing. The latter was preferred to Lolesio in the second Test against Argentina in San Juan but paid the price for a “clunky” performance in a record loss for the Wallabies.
“He (Lolesio) was close to playing in Argentina. But it is obviously a position that hasn’t been nailed yet by one individual so he gets his chance this week,” McKellar said. “He has Whitey (Nic White) on his inside there and they know each other very well, so that should be good cohesion and now he just has to go about doing his job within our plan.”
In many ways, Lolesio’s return is not a great surprise given the other options in the Wallabies squad are Bernard Foley, who is less than a week back in the camp, Reece Hodge and rookie Ben Donaldson.
Noah Lolesio takes on England in July.Credit:Getty
But after opting for O’Connor in San Juan, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie spelt out that Lolesio’s form in the third Test against England wasn’t up to scratch and he needed to see more from the Brumbies rookie. But that, too, is now a familar rollercoaster ride for Lolesio, given he has been dropped by Rennie in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
McKellar said the key to Lolesio nailing the role long-term is to aim for solid, not spectacular, and deliver the Wallabies’ gameplan.
“He doesn’t need to go out there and think he needs to be the best player on the field or man of the match,” McKellar said.
“He just has to do the basics well and direct us around the park and manage the game well, and understand when we have momentum and understand when we don’t have momentum and how we handle that. Play the game in the right areas of the field and that’s his job.
“If he does that, and kicks his goals and is really solid, that’s a tick in the box for him. It’s not about him thinking he has to go out and create a whole lot of opportunity for others. Just be solid in doing his role.”
The importance of having a commanding no.10 to drive the Wallabies’ gameplan was highlighted by Cooper’s composed performances in guiding Australia to two wins over South Africa last year.
Quade Cooper orchestrated the Wallabies’ wins over South Africa in 2021.Credit:Getty
McKellar said the Wallabies had, again, a firm idea on how they wanted to play against the Boks but need the team to execute under pressure.
“They’re very good at what they do, they won a World Cup off the back of it and as we have shown in past, if we get our game right we can trouble them,” McKellar said.
“We think we have a really clear tactical plan around what’s required to put the Springboks under stress and pressure.
“It’s easy to talk about and put on a whiteboard …. but its about having the composure and the skillset to execute under pressure. There are some things to take away from what the All Blacks did, and 2021, but understand they’ll be motivated, South Africa. They haven’t won in Australia in a long time.”
Rob Valetini was one of the stronger performers for the Wallabies in San Juan but there wasn’t enough dominance in collisions.Credit:Getty
Traditionally the Wallabies have sought to move the big Springbok forwards around, to fatigue them. And while that will likely be the case again, albeit with more emphasis on kicking out of their half, the unavoidable reality is no victory over South Africa is earned without matching the Boks physically.
McKellar said the team was outmuscled in San Juan and are stinging to make amends.
“The reality is we didn’t win the collisions,” he said.
“We didn’t have the thirst to win the collisions and you won’t win a game of rugby without the desire and intent, and that’s across all areas. The tackle area, maul defence, scrum time, whatever it was, we were disappointed and pretty filthy about how we performed in San Juan, and know if we toss that up again we will be disappointed again on Saturday in Adelaide. We have to make sure we change that.
“When you lose a Test match for Australia, you feel like you’ve let the nation down and the rugby community down. It’s certainly been a long couple of weeks since the last game.”
