Australia’s Noah Lolesio and Irae Simone will make their Test debuts against New Zealand in Saturday’s opening Tri-Nations clash and while the duo will be put under pressure All Blacks captain Sam Cane does not see their inexperience as a weak link.
The Brumbies pair has come in at flyhalf and inside centre to replace the injured James O’Connor and Matt Toomua in a backline where the seven players have only five more caps between them than captain Michael Hooper (101) has himself.
The match in Sydney also doubles as the third Bledisloe Cup Test between the sides, with the Wallabies needing to win to have any hope of winning the series. Cane said the All Blacks would bring pressure on the Wallabies pair but not because of their inexperience.
“Like any Test match we will be looking to put pressure on the guys that drive them around the park,” Cane said on Friday. “Their playmakers have been at 10 and 12, so nothing will change. We will look to put them under pressure.”
All Blacks inside centre Jack Goodhue may have a bit of extra sting in his first collision with Simone, who he played with at secondary school in Auckland. “I think it will be good to have bragging rights over my midfield partner,” Goodhue said. “There will no doubt be an Instagram photo afterwards.”
Former World Cup captain Stirling Mortlock ranks Wallabies coach Dave Rennie’s daring picks as “right up there” with the boldest selection calls Australian rugby has ever seen.
“We haven’t won the Bledisloe Cup in almost 20 years,” Mortlock told AAP. Australia’s last three 10-12 combinations to debut against the All Blacks all featured in Wallabies defeats, including the most recent – Kevin Bourke and Neville Emery in 1947 – when the All Blacks won 27-14 at the SCG. Not since Wally Lewis and Dooney Hayes helped Australia to a 25-11 win over New Zealand at the SCG in 1934 have an untried midfield Test pairing been successful for the Wallabies in a Bledisloe Cup encounter.
-AAP
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