The Waratahs missed the finals. Now an ex-Wallaby of theirs is off to the Brumbies
Creighton came to the Waratahs this season after being recruited from the Reds, and Bowen, 21, has been at the Waratahs for three years. He debuted in 2023 and has 12 caps for the Waratahs, but only two as a starter.
The son of former Wallaby Scott Bowen is the standout No.10 at Shute Shield level and along with Teddy Wilson, steered Easts to a drought-breaking premiership last year.
Promising Junior Wallabies No.10 Joey Fowler, who is in the Waratahs academy, played in tour matches and trials for NSW in the off-season.
The Tahs have active been in the market searching for additional options at five-eighth, according to informed sources, and discussions were held with the Tahs' 2014 premiership playmaker Bernard Foley, and with Will Harrison, who are both playing in Japan.
Foley spoke with Joe Schmidt about the prospect of a move home, and the Wallabies coach said on the Kick Offs and Kick Ons podcast last week that he'd had contact with the former Test No.10.
But after Foley steered Kubota to a League One final last week, the veteran No.10 chose to extend his contract with the Japanese club for another year.
Harrison is also unlikely to return to the Tahs after initially giving it some consideration, according to informed sources.
The loss of Edmed will bring a spotlight on the Waratahs' high turnover of young five-eighths. Edmed came through the Waratahs' junior system with Harrison and Ben Donaldson, and the trio were seen as central to the future. But after Donaldson was let go to the Western Force, NSW focused on Harrison and Edmed in 2023. All three have now departed.
As with previous seasons, Edmed found himself in and out of the Waratahs' starting side this year.
On the back of a successful stint with North Harbour in the NPC last year, Edmed won a call-up to the Wallabies' squad for their spring tour, and he made a Test debut off the bench in the final Test against Ireland, albeit lasting only three minutes due to a head knock.
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Edmed started the year in the NSW No.10 jersey, and there was expectation he would push Lolesio, Donaldson and Tom Lynagh for a Wallabies role against the Lions. But Edmed was benched behind Creighton after three rounds, and he even found himself out of the Tahs' squad altogether mid-season, playing club rugby for Eastwood.
Edmed eventually won a recall but was benched again in the final round behind Bowen.
With Lolesio departing to play for Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, the Brumbies now have Edmed and Declan Meredith on board for next season, and possibly Jack Debreczeni as well. The veteran is weighing up playing on or retiring and moving into coaching.
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Advantage Australia: Lions sweat on Wallabies rejects
And just like that, there are more Australian players in the British & Irish Lions squad than Welshmen. Canberra born-and-raised prop Finlay Bealham, now plying his trade in Ireland, has been drafted into Andy Farrell's touring squad for the upcoming showpiece series in Australia following the withdrawal of Scotland front-rower Zander Fagerson with a calf injury. Hailing from the same esteemed ACT high school as former Wallabies Matt Giteau and twins Anthony and Saia Faingaa, among others, Bealham has made 51 Test appearances for Ireland after leaving Australia searching for opportunities as a teenager some 15 years ago. Despite being selected for the national schoolboys' team and representing Australia A side, Bealham was not offered a place in the Brumbies academy and instead ventured to Ireland to start his professional career. However the 33-year-old is now viewed by the Brumbies, Bealham is certainly well respected by Wallabies mentor Joe Schmidt, who presented the tighthead his first Test cap as Ireland coach in 2016. "It's tough on Zander to miss out so close to the tour," Farrell said. "But now Finlay gets an opportunity to come in and add to the group. "This is unfortunately part and parcel of the game so we always have to be prepared for that." The veteran's call-up, and Fagerson's scratching, not only adds to the growing concerns about the Lions' tighthead-prop situation, but will also increase the angst among fans not happy about the increasing number of non-British and Irish born players in Farrell's squad. The ginger-bearded Bealham is the eighth southern hemisphere-born player in the 38-man group, joining fellow Australians Mack Hansen and Sione Tuipulotu, Kiwis Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe and South Africans, Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe, who all qualify on residency grounds. And less than two years after the Red Dragon sent Eddie Jones' Wallabies packing from the 2023 World Cup with a record 40-6 group-stage mauling, the ledger now stands at Australian players three, Wales two in the Lions squad. Skipper Jac Morgan and scrumhalf Tomos Williams are the only two Welshmen among the Lions - their lowest representation in a British & Irish Lions squad in the post-war era. The so-called "foreign invasion" has apparently not gone down well in the northern hemisphere, with the likes of legendary five-times Lions tourist John McBride among those said to be "bothered". But of greater concern for the Lions, perhaps, should be the diminishing front-row stocks. Fellow Irish prop Tadhg Furlong is also nursing a calf injury, while England's Will Stuart will only link up with the squad on Saturday after playing for Bath in the English Premiership final. The rest of the players in the Lions squad who are not still involved in clubduties have assembled in Dublin and were to travel to Portugal on Tuesday for a six-day training camp.


The Advertiser
a day ago
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Brumbies ace credits Wallabies legend for Super charge
Noah Lolesio has credited his coach Stephen Larkham - widely considered the greatest Wallabies flyhalf - for giving him the tools to steer the Brumbies into their fourth successive Super Rugby Pacific semi-final. The Brumbies will travel to Hamilton for a semi-final clash with the Chiefs, who topped the ladder but suffered a shock qualifying final loss to the Blues. No Australian side has ever won a knock-out game in New Zealand in the almost 30-year history of Super Rugby and the Brumbies' last three seasons have ended in semi-final defeats across the ditch. Despite this record Lolesio said the Brumbies wouldn't be shifting far from the game plan that helped to dispatch the Hurricanes 35-28 in their qualifying final in Canberra. "The Blues play a bit different to how we play but if anything, it just shows that if you show up physically with the right mindset you put yourself in a good position to win, so that's where our heads are at as a team," Lolesio said on Monday in Canberra. "Nothing really changes for us in how we play our game right now; we know our game works and it's very effective and efficient so we just have to back our systems in place and game plan. "If everyone just does their job to the best of their ability, hopefully we put ourselves in a good position to get a good result." Lolesi played a composed game at No.10, pulling the right strings as his team mixed up their attack between forward play and using their sizzling pace out wide. Dependent on the result, Saturday's match could be the 25-year-old's last in Brumbies colours, with Lolesio taking his playing career to Japan. "I'm giving everything into this game this weekend, knowing that potentially it could be my last," he said. "I'm not going to leave any stone unturned ... not just for myself, but for this special organisation that have been so good to me ever since I came to Canberra as a 17-year-old." With 23 caps, the Test flyhalf was first coached by Dan McKellar before Larkham took over at the ACT side in 2022. While he may not have the natural talent of Larkham, who helped Australia fill its trophy cabinet including the 1999 World Cup, Lolesio said he'd grown as a player under "Bernie". "He's been awesome, ever since he arrived, he's just always been telling me to back whatever I see on the field," Lolesio said. "Just simple cues and triggers on how to manipulate the defence with quick ball or slow ball. "I've been really enjoying my time, especially the one-on-one chats with Bernie just on how I can develop my game as a 10 and help the team around as well. "I think if you look at my game from when I first debuted to where my game's at now, I think I've taken huge strides as more just a game manager than anything else. "I take serious pride in leading the team around the best I can, doing the best for the team, so having Bernie there at the same time, it helps massively." Noah Lolesio has credited his coach Stephen Larkham - widely considered the greatest Wallabies flyhalf - for giving him the tools to steer the Brumbies into their fourth successive Super Rugby Pacific semi-final. The Brumbies will travel to Hamilton for a semi-final clash with the Chiefs, who topped the ladder but suffered a shock qualifying final loss to the Blues. No Australian side has ever won a knock-out game in New Zealand in the almost 30-year history of Super Rugby and the Brumbies' last three seasons have ended in semi-final defeats across the ditch. Despite this record Lolesio said the Brumbies wouldn't be shifting far from the game plan that helped to dispatch the Hurricanes 35-28 in their qualifying final in Canberra. "The Blues play a bit different to how we play but if anything, it just shows that if you show up physically with the right mindset you put yourself in a good position to win, so that's where our heads are at as a team," Lolesio said on Monday in Canberra. "Nothing really changes for us in how we play our game right now; we know our game works and it's very effective and efficient so we just have to back our systems in place and game plan. "If everyone just does their job to the best of their ability, hopefully we put ourselves in a good position to get a good result." Lolesi played a composed game at No.10, pulling the right strings as his team mixed up their attack between forward play and using their sizzling pace out wide. Dependent on the result, Saturday's match could be the 25-year-old's last in Brumbies colours, with Lolesio taking his playing career to Japan. "I'm giving everything into this game this weekend, knowing that potentially it could be my last," he said. "I'm not going to leave any stone unturned ... not just for myself, but for this special organisation that have been so good to me ever since I came to Canberra as a 17-year-old." With 23 caps, the Test flyhalf was first coached by Dan McKellar before Larkham took over at the ACT side in 2022. While he may not have the natural talent of Larkham, who helped Australia fill its trophy cabinet including the 1999 World Cup, Lolesio said he'd grown as a player under "Bernie". "He's been awesome, ever since he arrived, he's just always been telling me to back whatever I see on the field," Lolesio said. "Just simple cues and triggers on how to manipulate the defence with quick ball or slow ball. "I've been really enjoying my time, especially the one-on-one chats with Bernie just on how I can develop my game as a 10 and help the team around as well. "I think if you look at my game from when I first debuted to where my game's at now, I think I've taken huge strides as more just a game manager than anything else. "I take serious pride in leading the team around the best I can, doing the best for the team, so having Bernie there at the same time, it helps massively." Noah Lolesio has credited his coach Stephen Larkham - widely considered the greatest Wallabies flyhalf - for giving him the tools to steer the Brumbies into their fourth successive Super Rugby Pacific semi-final. The Brumbies will travel to Hamilton for a semi-final clash with the Chiefs, who topped the ladder but suffered a shock qualifying final loss to the Blues. No Australian side has ever won a knock-out game in New Zealand in the almost 30-year history of Super Rugby and the Brumbies' last three seasons have ended in semi-final defeats across the ditch. Despite this record Lolesio said the Brumbies wouldn't be shifting far from the game plan that helped to dispatch the Hurricanes 35-28 in their qualifying final in Canberra. "The Blues play a bit different to how we play but if anything, it just shows that if you show up physically with the right mindset you put yourself in a good position to win, so that's where our heads are at as a team," Lolesio said on Monday in Canberra. "Nothing really changes for us in how we play our game right now; we know our game works and it's very effective and efficient so we just have to back our systems in place and game plan. "If everyone just does their job to the best of their ability, hopefully we put ourselves in a good position to get a good result." Lolesi played a composed game at No.10, pulling the right strings as his team mixed up their attack between forward play and using their sizzling pace out wide. Dependent on the result, Saturday's match could be the 25-year-old's last in Brumbies colours, with Lolesio taking his playing career to Japan. "I'm giving everything into this game this weekend, knowing that potentially it could be my last," he said. "I'm not going to leave any stone unturned ... not just for myself, but for this special organisation that have been so good to me ever since I came to Canberra as a 17-year-old." With 23 caps, the Test flyhalf was first coached by Dan McKellar before Larkham took over at the ACT side in 2022. While he may not have the natural talent of Larkham, who helped Australia fill its trophy cabinet including the 1999 World Cup, Lolesio said he'd grown as a player under "Bernie". "He's been awesome, ever since he arrived, he's just always been telling me to back whatever I see on the field," Lolesio said. "Just simple cues and triggers on how to manipulate the defence with quick ball or slow ball. "I've been really enjoying my time, especially the one-on-one chats with Bernie just on how I can develop my game as a 10 and help the team around as well. "I think if you look at my game from when I first debuted to where my game's at now, I think I've taken huge strides as more just a game manager than anything else. "I take serious pride in leading the team around the best I can, doing the best for the team, so having Bernie there at the same time, it helps massively."