Wallaby flyhalves 'personal' rivalry resumes after 2023 spat
Noah Lolesio will be out to make a statement when he locks horns with Wallabies five-eighth rival Carter Gordon in Friday night’s Super Rugby Pacific clash.
Lolesio’s ACT Brumbies are heading down to take on Gordon’s Melbourne Rebels, and both their coaches admit the feud will be fuelling the young talents during the AAMI Park contest.
It’s the first time the pair have faced off since the Brumbies’ starlet mouthed “Carter Gordon?” upon scoring a try against the Rebels, just days after he was snubbed from a national team squad for the Melbourne player.
Melbourne coach Kevin Foote said the matter had become “personal” between the two playmakers, and Brumbies boss Stephen Larkham tipped Lolesio to thrive with the added fire.
“We don’t focus on one particular individual, and as a No.10 it’s very difficult sometimes to come up against your position on the field,” Larkham said.
“It’s very rare they come up against one another one-on-one, but there will be a challenge for both players in the way that they control their teams.
“I’m sure Noah is looking forward to that challenge.”
Earlier in the week, Foote said the prospect of making an early statement for new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt would be high on the agenda for both players.
“It is personal, I think it is personal, that’s the truth of it,” he said.
“There’s a new Wallabies coach on top of that, so they’ll be playing for positions.
“There’s the British and Irish Lions coming. There’s Wales Tests come July.
“It’s personal for us.”
While Gordon went to last year’s World Cup and struggled in the poor Wallabies side, Lolesio spent his off-season playing with French club Toulon on a short-term contract.
Larkham said the 23-year-old, 17-cap Wallaby had come back as a more confident five-eighth.
“Going over there and trying to find a connection with a new team has given him some skills to bring back and connect with our players over here,” he said.
“What he’s bringing to training is hopefully what he brings in the game, which is really good communication and intensity.”
The Brumbies have named star back-rower Rob Valetini to start despite no pre-season minutes, with Rhys van Nek starting at prop as Allan Alaalatoa recovers from his achilles rupture.
Gun Melbourne front-rower Taniela Tupou has been named to make his club debut off the bench.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments