Noah Lolesio will fly to the UK to answer an SOS from the Wallabies on their Spring Tour, with Kurtley Beale poised to make a comeback after "torn" playmaker Quade Cooper stayed behind in Japan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wallabies coach Rennie has called upon 21-year-old Lolesio as Australia prepares to reignite its Spring Tour against Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium in the early hours of November 8 [AEDT].
The Wallabies' best-laid plans for the Spring Tour have been thrown into disarray with Cooper following the lead of Samu Kerevi and Sean McMahon in staying in Japan.
Cooper's withdrawal coupled with Reece Hodge's pectoral injury left the Wallabies' depth in the playmaking stocks thin beyond James O'Connor, who is set to start at No. 10 following Cooper's exodus.
Now Lolesio and Kurtley Beale are poised to join the Wallabies ahead of Tests against Scotland, England and Wales with Rennie voicing his disappointment at Cooper's withdrawal.
MORE RUGBY UNION
"If we thought Quade wasn't going to tour, Noah would have travelled," Rennie said.
"Kurtley will come in. We were looking more at Kurtley as a 15 who can play other spots, so we're going to bring Noah over. If we had Hodgey here, we would have resisted that, to try to get the off-season program we wanted in. We'll try and do both with him here.
"He's played a lot of footy for us, he understands our structures, he can slot in seamlessly. He's been training every day, the body is great, and he's keen as. We'll get him on the plane as soon as we can get the appropriate paperwork sorted.
"Noah has learnt a lot over the last period, so it'll be exciting to bring him in. We get a chance to look at Kurtley in our group, and get an understanding of how he would fit in from a cultural perspective and a rugby perspective."
Kerevi withdrew following a lengthy campaign which the 28-year-old ended with a syndesmosis injury, while McMahon opted against touring the United Kingdom because of a desire to stay with his family.
Resurgent flyhalf Cooper's comeback came to an end on Thursday morning when he informed the Wallabies he would stay behind ahead of Kintetsu's pre-season training program.
The withdrawal of the overseas-based trio will be high on Rugby Australia's agenda when discussions regarding changes to the Giteau Law ramp up over the coming months.
"We want guys who are desperate to be Wallabies. I know Quade says he is, but he's torn. I think if he had the support of the club, and the blessing of the club, he'd have come. But he hasn't," Rennie said.
"All I'll say is that the players felt the clubs wanted them to be there, that it was an important period. The players felt compelled to stay."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram