Fourth choice prop and one Test hooker on the brink of Rugby World Cup selection
Pone Fa'amausili and Matt Faessler stand on the brink of shock selections for Australia's Rugby World Cup squad after being thrust into the Bledisloe Cup cauldron.
Prop Fa'amausili made a first run-on start in Saturday's 23-20 loss in Dunedin, riding out a pair of huge hits as the Wallabies took control early.
Hooker Faessler - who had never worn the gold jersey before - was ordered to put down his bacon at breakfast on match day when Jordan Uelese's knee didn't come up.
He was then thrust into battle in the 14th minute when Dave Porecki left with a shoulder complaint.
"It all happened so quickly I haven't had time to process what's occurred," Faessler said after full-time, proudly wearing his Wallabies cap for media duties.
It wasn't long ago the pair were bashing about in suburban parks playing club rugby: for Melbourne-raised Rebels forward Fa'amausili it was just last month.
Overlooked for Wallabies duty, Fa'amausili went back to the Moorabbin Rams, ditching his place in the front row for a number eight shirt.
"Obviously I got dropped, I didn't make the squad to go to South Africa but found a bit of love through playing with some good mates," he said.
Faessler didn't have a professional contract until last year, when he was plucked from club rugby to fill-in for the undermanned Queenslands Reds in a trial match.
At the time, the hooker called playing in that match being "thrown into the deep end".
Showing his progression, the 24-year-old didn't look out of place against the mighty All Blacks.
"I didn't actually have time to sit and process what was occurring, what things could happen badly or go well, etc," Faessler said.
"I was actually pretty clear-minded going in and then I definitely wasn't expecting to get on that early or play those sorts of minutes. Just grateful for that opportunity."
What the Queenslander and Melburnian have in common is coach Eddie Jones, who backed them to come good in a gold shirt they both have coveted.
Faessler said Jones' exacting standards had lifted the entire group.
"He's huge on accountability," Faessler said.
"There's a lot of honest conversations that the coaches have with players, and players have with players."
This week, those conversations will include Jones telling 33 players they'll be heading to France for the World Cup, and the pair may well get a call - something unimaginable at the start of the season.
"Eddie's been massive for me," Fa'amausili said.
"Everyone knows that Eddie gets stuck into me on the field in training. He's always giving me chat.
"He just wants the best for me. I know where the chat is coming from. He's just pushing me to my limits and just really wants to see me change my mindset.
"I knew how big this opportunity was for me. I knew that this was ... the opportunity I needed to make a statement to get into the squad going to France.
"Hopefully my performance has done that."
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Brumbies are looking good and if they keep their home form up a final is not beyond the realms of possibility. They showed against the Hurricanes exactly how clinical they can be as they absorbed pressure in that contest while also scoring points and applying their own pressure. Reds are well placed as well but need to find consistency. They are building a longer term project with a young side and plenty of quality players. Been surprising to see the strength of Aussie sides this year after the debacle of the world cup. Have NZ sides gotten weaker? Have Aussie sides gotten stronger? A bit of both I would say. Whatever the case its good to see some actual competition between NZ and Aus sides again and thats exactly what the fans wanted and is probably driving better viewership numbers. All of this can only be healthy for Aus and Super Rugby and I hope the Brumbies go all the way.
Go to commentsDead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
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