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'It's not being rude': Wallabies want Lolesio to shed 'nice guy' persona

Noah Lolesio of the Wallabies celebrates with try-scorer Fraser McReight uring The Rugby Championship match between the Australian Wallabies and the South African Springboks at Adelaide Oval on August 27, 2022 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Young Wallabies playmaker Noah Lolesio has been urged to shed his ‘nice guy’ image and ramp up his assertiveness as he works to nail down the crucial No.10 role.

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Backs coach Scott Wisemantel says the 22-year-old was “solid” in Australia’s 25-17 win over South Africa last weekend, but he wants to see him take command when the teams meet again Sydney on Saturday night.

Lolesio was dropped again for the Wallabies’ two Tests in Argentina, replaced by Quade Cooper and James O’Connor, and Wisemantel said even that experience should spark a reaction within Lolesio.

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“One thing we really want from Noah is to be a bit more aggressive because he’s such a nice bloke,” he told reporters.

“As a coach … I want him to be filthy if he’s not selected. I want him to come to me and go, ‘why, how are we going to do this and what are you going to do for me?’ because that’s my job.

“It’s not being rude, but in that role as a player who touches the ball more than most players in the team, he has to have that authority and that command and to do that you actually have to practice it daily.

“‘I need you here. I want you here. If you don’t show up, there’s going to be consequences’ … it’s aggressive language, and off the field Noah’s nothing like that.”

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The 12-cap Wallaby looms as the five-eighth of the future having accrued such experience at his young age, and certainly looked the part with a hand in each of his team’s three tries last time out against the Springboks.

Wisemantel saw moments within the performance that encouraged him Lolesio could foot the bill as a team leader.

“He was solid, he did his job (but) there’s areas that we can still touch on there,” he said.

“The most impressive thing for me was when we scored that first try with (Fraser) McReight, if you go back two phases beforehand, and you look where Noah is, he’s connected to the forwards.

“But the authority he had with telling him what he wanted, how we wanted it and was organising, that to me was the most impressive part of his game.

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“Whether you’re right or wrong, if you’re demanding things, commanding things, then blokes are going to show up for you.”

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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LONG READ
LONG READ Does the next Wallabies coach have to be an Australian? Does the next Wallabies coach have to be an Australian?
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