Brumbies ace credits Wallabies legend for Super charge

Yahoo

4 hours ago

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."