Some were shocked when Rennie named the 22-year-old in his squad behind Quade Cooper last week, over experienced flyhalf James O'Connor.

That was until he was called into the starting XV 10 minutes before kick-off and seamlessly led Australia to a two-point win over England.

Mortlock, however, never doubted him and has his fingers crossed Lolesio will don the green and gold No. 10 jersey again for the second Test against England in Brisbane on Saturday. The ACT Brumbies great understands more than most the pressure young players are under on the international stage, having first toured at 20.

"To adapt to that change, that was really, really impressive," he said.

"Noah is maturing really well as a playmaker and the reality is historically in Australia, we put a lot of pressure on our young playmakers and there's already huge pressure on their shoulders because predominantly they're the main core in attack, and typically they're touching the ball the most as well.

"So it's been really easy for us historically, to throw younger guys in, them not deal with that, and then they don't get an opportunity for a long time.

"From my point of view, it's really positive that Noah's been in the Wallabies ranks for a couple of years, he's had opportunities and he's growing into that role.

"What I was really impressed with was that he was extremely comfortable at Test match level.

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"That comfort, and his abilities, are only going to get better and better as he keeps on having continuity. Fingers crossed that it continues."

As much as Mortlock praised Lolesio's adaptability, and performance, against England, he was not blind to the efforts of the rest of the Wallabies outfit, singing praise for debutant Cadeyrn Neville, who he suited up alongside at the Brumbies and the Melbourne Rebels, and the kicking game of Nic White, which aided the young flyhalf.

It's something the 45-year-old hopes to see in Test two.

"There was also a number of factors that helped Noah," Mortlock said.

"There was a lot of sharing of the burden in attack, which freed up him to play, to pick and choose his moments to get get his hands on the ball, and to not have as much pressure on him.

"So I felt like it was really smart game plan by Australia, but Noah was instrumental on executing that too."

Rennie will likely look to Lolesio again when he names his side on Thursday, but his options for fullback are getting slimmer by the minute.

Cooper was not the only Wallaby to fall to injury, as departing Brumby Tom Banks broke his arm during the 30-28 win.

But Banks' replacement Andrew Kellaway has sustained a hamstring injury, ruling him out of contention for the Brisbane game.

Instead Jordan Petaia is set to start at fullback on Saturday for Australia.

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