Wallabies star Wright endorses Lonergan for South Africa Tests

The Australian

2 days ago

Wallabies fullback Tom Wright is backing his Brumbies teammate Ryan Lonergan to successfully make the jump to the Test arena if he gets called up for Australia's squad for their upcoming matches in South Africa.
The Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is looking for an extra halfback for the start of the Rugby Championship after Jake Gordon tweaked his hamstring, forcing him to miss last weekend's 22-12 win over the British & Irish Lions.
Veteran scrum feeder Nic White did a good job as his replacement before Australia's best attacking halfback Tate McDermott came on and sealed the victory with a try, but the Wallabies will need another number nine as cover for when they play the world champions.
Lonergan is the most likely man to get the call up.
The 27-year-old has been a regular inclusion in Wallabies camps for the past couple of years, including the training squad for last month's warm-up Test against Fiji.
Schmidt has yet to give Lonergan his chance in the gold jersey but Wright said it's only a matter of time and when it happens, he'll handle the pressure.
'I think his Super Rugby form speaks for itself,' Wright said.
'He's class… and I think he's going to be ready to take his opportunity whenever it comes.
'It's a matter of when, not if, in my opinion. He's certainly a name that wouldn't look out of character in a Wallaby jersey.'
After a slow start in the first Test, Wright played exceptionally well in the last two matches, scoring a try in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that gave the Wallabies an 18-point lead just before halftime.
Unfortunately for Australian supporters, the Wallabies lost the match – and with it the series – after falling off too many tackles then giving up a contentious last-minute try.
While Schmidt's complaints over the try were a massive talking point in the build-up to the third Test, Wright said the players and coaches had accepted that wasn't the reason they lost and made a pact to rectify their shortcomings in the third Test to avoid a series cleansweep.
'As you can imagine, plenty of preparation went into this Lions series for us. The last moment at the MCG certainly wasn't the only reason or the only moment that we didn't win as a Wallaby team,' Wright said.
'We looked at a number of things we could have done better and talked about owning moments that we can control certainly.'
The honesty session paid dividends as the Wallabies came out firing in the final Test, desperate to win to give the Australians a springboard heading into the Rugby Championship and the build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
'We were really disappointed at the end of Melbourne. We knew that we had to lick our wounds and quickly get back on the horse,' Wright said.
'There's a fair til the end of 2027, but plenty of eyes on it and for good reason, a home World Cup, really exciting stuff.
'We can all sort of feel that we have gone up, down, sort of in dips and flows, but as a player that's obviously been the journey now for the best part of every year.
'We're definitely building in confidence and getting that feel for the way that Joe and the coaching staff are trying to get us to play.
'We're all in and confidence is that thing that we're just trying to continue to grow.' Sport
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