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Wallabies must build depth in the No 10 jersey

Noah Lolesio. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

With two ageing playmakers on board for next year’s Rugby World Cup, the Wallabies will look to fast-track some youngsters after Dave Rennie admitted five-eighth was a position of concern.

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James O’Connor will start at No 10 in the second Rugby Championship Test against Argentina on Sunday morning with fellow veteran Quade Cooper undergoing surgery on his ruptured Achilles.

Cooper, aged 34, faces a nine-month rehabilitation while O’Connor, two years younger, has also battled numerous soft-tissue injuries this year.

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Noah Lolesio started at five-eighth in all three England Tests but the 22-year-old has been unable to fully cement himself in the role, with Rennie deciding they need to accelerate the development of other play-making options.

He felt they had built good depth at fullback and in the second row but competition at 10 was “the skinniest”.

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Waratah playmakers Tane Edmed and Ben Donaldson are in Rennie’s sights.

“That’s something that we’re talking about, and we’ve got a few plans around that,” Rennie said from Argentina on Friday.

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“We’ve some good young kids coming through but not ready for this level yet.

“It’s certainly an area of focus, we need to accelerate the development of young 10s.”

There were reports 70-Test veteran Bernard Foley, who is 32, would return to the Wallabies fold but Rennie said no call had yet been made.

“We haven’t made a plan around that, clearly at the moment we’ve still got three guys with Hodgey (Reece Hodge) covering and we’ll reassess when we get home.”

Rennie predicted Lolesio, who has missed selection for both Argentina Tests, would in time become a world-class five-eighth.

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“He was disappointed in his third (England) Test but he’s a good kid and I reckon he’s going to be an excellent international 10, so he’s definitely working hard on growing his game,” Rennie said.

“We talked about connection, it’s actually a strength of his at the Brumbies, but it wasn’t as sharp.

“He got deeper and deeper as the game went on and had to buy himself some time.

“He’s the type of player who doesn’t have the leg speed of a Beauden Barrett so needs to be able to play flat but still get himself in a position where he can run, kick pass.

“He’s played maybe a dozen Tests now, all against top teams, so he’s played big games and will be better for it.”

– Melissa Woods

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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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