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'It would be awesome': The iconic Bledisloe Cup moment a Wallabies debutant is hoping to emulate as series goes on the line
By AAP
Noah Lolesio dreams of conjuring his own John Eales moment after being thrust into the Bledisloe Cup cauldron for his Wallabies debut on Saturday night.
As well as being in the five-eighth hot seat, the 20-year-old will handle goalkicking duties for Australia at ANZ Stadium following Matt Toomua's year-ending groin injury injured suffered in the Wallabies' 27-7 loss in Auckland two weeks ago.
Far from overawed about assuming such responsibilities, Lolesio says he'd relish the chance to boot Australia to victory, just like Eales did in the 85th minute of the Wallabies' unforgettable 24-23 win over the All Blacks in Wellington 20 years ago.
"Oh yeah, it would be awesome," Lolesio told AAP.
"I've seen it. I don't know if I was alive when it happened but I've definitely seen the footage."
Eales' trusty right boot, after taking the shot because regular kicker Stirling Mortlock was off the field, remains etched in Bledisloe Cup folklore.
"They're the moments you train for," Eales said.
"They're the moments in the backyard as a kid ... I kicked a hundred of those in the backyard trying to win a test for Australia.
"And I'm very glad it went over because people's memories of me as a rugby player would have been very different if I had have missed that kick."
While Eales' successful penalty secured Australia the 2020 Bledisloe Cup series, New Zealand has held the trophy for the past 17 years.
Lolesio, though, is one of several fresh faces in coach Dave Rennie's Wallabies line-up not carrying any psychological scarring from more than a decade and a half of trans-Tasman beatings.
"It's something that definitely drives me. I really want that Cup back here and I know everyone in this squad wants that cup as well," he said.
"It's definitely a driving factor.
"It's very exciting long term to be part of this squad but, at the end of the day, we want to win now.
"Dave's made it very clear that we want to win this Bledisloe and there's no better way to do it than on home soil.
"That's in the forefront of our minds and we can worry about the future after that."
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Latest Comments
I would go as far as to say they trend towards the Ben Smith style engagement. Utter crap.
I don't think any All Black coach has had a tougher first year than this (so to here that they did that is really poor).
They is of course the sky production, the producer behind the scenes. They select commentators to deliver on that content they're going to provide them with, which means they have to be 'yes' mean. Mills is the A grade yes man. Actually really please Mills seems to be acting stronger, more with his own personality these days, and the game day commentry teams have bee pretty good imo. Bates, Steven, Shields, even that italian player was alright last week.
Go to commentsAs Naas would say... A win is a win.
It was not perfect and at times frustrating. All 3 tests were not the best by the Boks and they still found ways to win.
Rassie would have noted the sloppyness at times and silly mistakes. The 9's made amateur handling mistakes when clearing the rucks in all 3 tests.
Once the "stupid" mistakes are eliminated, this Bok team will be very very hard to beat.
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