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Meet the ripped Rebels halfback in contention for a maiden Wallabies call-up

(Photo / Twitter)

Melbourne halfback Ryan Louwrens has caught the eye of Wallabies officials after his blistering start to the Super Rugby season – thanks in part to Australian legend Will Genia.

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Signed to the Rebels for 2020, Louwrens has already been sought out about his plans beyond the season, with the Wallabies No.9 jumper up for grabs.

The 28-year-old Louwrens was born in South Africa but moved with his family to Australia in his teens.

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If he does break through to the national squad, some of the credit will go to his childhood hero Genia, who he worked alongside at Japanese club Kintetsu Liners last season.

“I learned a lot off (Genia) in Japan – we ended up sharing the match time,” Louwrens said.

“He was very good in terms of helping all the No.9s and he’s been there and done that so he’s great to have around.

“He told me to rip in at the Rebels and back myself.”

Incoming test coach Dave Rennie has spoken of his desire to pick from the ranks of Super Rugby, putting Louwrens in a battle with the Brumbies’ Joe Powell, Waratah Jake Gordon and Reds’ youngster Tate McDermott.

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Louwrens was one of the Rebels’ best in their breakthrough win over the Waratahs last round and is looking to back that up against the Sharks in Ballarat on Saturday afternoon.

He will have to do it without injured Wallabies five-eighth Matt Toomua (groin), with Andrew Deegan stepping in for his first start at 10.

“I was happy with my first start last round and hopefully I can continue to build on that and progress and have a good game,” Louwrens told AAP.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8zmjJUg1Gm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“Andrew has come in seamlessly; he’s a very good player and his communication is very good. He’s a similar player to Matt Toomua, he’s got a lot of flair and controls the game well.”

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He said the confidence gained playing in Japan has been key to his return to form after his career stalled at the Western Force following ACL ruptures in 2014 and 2017.

“I think it’s staying injury-free,” Louwrens said. “I had some bad injuries while I was at the Force and it was about finding my confidence again.

“I found that in Japan, getting my running game back to where I wanted it to be.”

The Rebels beat the Durban-based Sharks on their last visit to Melbourne in 2018, their only success in seven matches.

– AAP

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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