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Grim Wallaby World Cup won't diminish 'pride' of debut for Perese

Izaia Perese talks to media for the Wallabies. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

At least someone is smiling in the Wallabies camp with Izaia Perese beaming after finally earning a call-up for their last Rugby World Cup pool clash against Portugal.

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After a grim pool run, with Australia’s only victory in three games coming in their opening match against Georgia, coach Eddie Jones has opted for a NSW Waratahs centre combination in Perese and Lalakai Foketi.

With Perese making his first appearance of the tournament, the pair have replaced Samu Kerevi and Jordan Petaia, who have started in all three matches including record losses to Wales and Fiji.

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“I’m excited; it’s part of footy and if you don’t get to play, you don’t get to play and you’ve got to do your very best to prepare the team for that week,” Perese said.

“But this week I finally get an opportunity so I’m just thinking about doing my job for the boys and you know, putting a lot of pride into that jersey for everyone back home as well.”

While his talent was never in question, the 26-year-old has had a rocky road to the World Cup stage.

He switched between rugby and rugby league, where he played two NRL games for Brisbane, faced a drug charge back in 2019 and battled depression.

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Injuries have also limited his Test career to just five caps.

“It’s a huge ‘pinch myself moment’, I’ve definitely come a long way,” Perese said.

“But all I’m thinking about right now is doing a job on the weekend and that’s about it.”

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As well as Perese and Foketi, five-eighth Ben Donaldson and winger Mark Nawaqanitawase all play for NSW in the Super Rugby Pacific competition and Perese hoped their backline combination could reap rewards against Portugal.

The Australians take on the world No.16 in Saint-Etienne on Sunday (Monday 2.45am AEDT) looking to salvage something from their France campaign.

“Most definitely – we’ve trained really well together this week and there’s a lot of familiarity with Donno (Donaldson) and La (Foketi) having the opportunity to play three years together,” Perese said.

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“We trust each other, we’ve grown together over the three years so hopefully after the week we’ve had, on Sunday we can change things up and do the best we can.”

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J
JW 2 hours ago
Mick Cleary: 'These blokes have done the jersey proud, with their buy-in and with their relish.'

Jesus PR that’s another great conclusion. I can definitely see it as blocker to bringing through new talent in time for the WC. NZ underwent a lot of change in 2018 following the Lions tour, in part thanks to key injuries. Despite the revenue spending Aaron Cruden (getting frail even at his young age then) and Lima Sopoaga (along with Julien Savea), 2 of the 3 1st5s in the Lions squad, both left before the 2019 WC for example. But when we apply your logic, their delayed departure prevented Richie Mounga and Damien McKenzie (the 15 who got injured and threw a spanner in the works) from brought through in what would possible now be considered the preferred WC preparation. Ditto on the win with a scramble of constant change their all the way through to their WC 3rd/4th playoff.


Theres certainly cause to account for certain circumstances eventuating being influenced by a Lions tour. But as both nations here select from domestic players only, theres also cause to put similar emphasis on the contracting model in general, as sometimes you can hold on too long. Ireland has a similar model, talking to another irishman here he suggests it has lead to selecting based on contracts, money being spent on a player centrally contracted. So I would not so much worry about fatigue (in part because some incomplete analysis I had done on all.rugby shows the Irish contingent have low minutes this year) but continuing to select underperforming and aging players. When in a pure context of building for a WC, one would normally want to move on an develop the future.

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