Wallabies playmaker Noah Lolesio has been encouraged to shed his ‘nice-guy’ image and get aggressive against the Springboks in Sydney on Saturday.
Lolesio scored 10 points and set up two tries, including loose forward Fraser McReight’s decisive second try in the second half, to guide the Wallabies to victory over the Boks in Adelaide.
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The 22-year-old, though, has been urged by Wallabies attack coach Scott Wisemantel to get even tougher when the two teams meet again on Saturday.
“One thing we really want from Noah is to be a bit more aggressive because he’s such a nice bloke,” Wisemantel told Australian reporters.
“As a coach, I want him to be filthy if he’s not selected. I want him to come to me and go, ‘Why, how are we going to do this and what are you going to do for me?’ because that’s my job.
“It’s not being rude, but in that role as a player who touches the ball more than most players in the team, he has to have that authority and that command and to do that you actually have to practise it daily.
“‘I need you here. I want you here. If you don’t show up, there’s going to be consequences’ … it’s aggressive language, and off the field Noah’s nothing like that.”
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Lolesio started all three Tests against England in July but was then dropped for the games against Argentina for Quade Cooper and James O’Connor.
“He was solid, he did his job [but] there are areas that we can still touch on there,” Wisemantel said.
“The most impressive thing for me was when we scored that first try with [Fraser] McReight, if you go back two phases beforehand, and you look where Noah is, he’s connected to the forwards.
“But the authority he had with telling him what he wanted, how we wanted it and was organising, that to me was the most impressive part of his game.
“Whether you’re right or wrong, if you’re demanding things, commanding things, then blokes are going to show up for you.”
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Photo: Matt King/Getty Images
