Joe Schmidt assesses Noah Lolesio’s performance against South Africa

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has praised Noah Lolesio for a “composed” performance against the world champion Springboks on Saturday. The flyhalf was a leader around the park and didn’t seem to take a backwards step when an injury crisis swept through the team.

There has been a fair amount of criticism pinned on Lolesio over the last month. The 24-year-old started the first two Tests of the year against Warren Gatland’s Wales but failed to completely win over fans before swapping out of the First XV for Ben Donaldson against Georgia.

While Lolesio returned to the No. 10 jumper ahead of the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship opener against the Springboks, the playmaker still had a lot to prove – and that Test, as all Australian rugby fans will remember, wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.

Lolesio paired up with halfback Jake Gordon in the halves but they failed to get anything going in attack against the South African outfit which grew in confidence as the Test went on. The visitors were sensational as they snapped their Brisbane hoodoo with a big win.

But a week is a long time in Test rugby. It’s an overused cliché in this sport but it’s true – just look at Noah Lolesio. The flyhalf was paired up with former ACT Brumbies teammate Nic White in the halves and Lolesio seemed to benefit from that experience at Optus Stadium.

“Yeah, he’s grown in confidence,” coach Joe Schmidt told reporters after Australia’s 30-12 loss to South Africa at the Perth venue.

“I was delighted with the way he coped. Lenny Ikitau hasn’t played 12 for us and Andrew Kellaway hasn’t played 13 and losing Hunter (Paisami), he stayed really composed, I thought, and ran the game as best he could.

“As much as we became a little bit probably out of kilter in the pack and just probably upset our backline balance as well. Hunter’s been super for us so that was a bit of a loss.

“Despite all that, I thought Noah did look really composed and stayed in the game really well and I thought his kicking was improved on top of that.”

Lolesio and White ran numerous switch plays which allowed the Wallabies to exploit space around the park. In one instance, the pair drew the Springboks defence to the right side of the field to allow for Tom Wright to kick a 50/22 just before half-time.

But it wasn’t a perfect performance. Lolesio was perfect off the goal-kicking tee with the half-time break rapidly approaching, but the first five-eighth had one more shot before the interval to give Australia the lead.

In wet conditions, Lolesio sent the penalty attempt wide – the Wallabies went into the sheds down by two points. That one kick could’ve come as a massive boost for the hosts had it gone over, but the coach was still pleased with how the team fought during the second term.

“I was really proud of the way we hung in through half-time –  almost could have got our nose in front just on half-time which I think would’ve given the boys a little bit of oxygen, a little bit of belief. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite get there,” Schmidt explained.

“Then, right at the start of the second half, we lost ‘Slips’ had come on as skipper and we lost him straight away and we got a little bit dishevelled in the pack because we were down numbers.

“At the same time, they were bringing some numbers on that are pretty impressive. Obviously, Eben (Etzebeth) played most of the game… they had some firepower they brought on.

“I was also proud that we didn’t die wondering. We chanced our arm a few time in pretty tough conditions. It was tough going with the carry and then to be able to carry in these conditions, they actually turned a fair bit of ball over.

“I was proud of the effort that was made.”