Rookie Noah Lolesio is poised to make his Wallabies debut off the bench as Dave Rennie prepares to usher in a new era for Australian rugby in the Bledisloe Cup opener.
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The ACT Brumbies flyhalf may earn his first cap against the All Blacks as he firms for a place on the Wallabies bench in Wellington on Sunday afternoon.
A potential Test debut would cap off a whirlwind year for Lolesio, who went from being a relative unknown to steering the Brumbies to the Super Rugby AU crown.
The 20-year-old was considered a chance of beating Queensland Reds counterpart James O'Connor to the No. 10 jersey.
But O'Connor looms as the likely starter with Lolesio set to be eased into the Test arena, with last month's grand final marking his first appearance in two months following a severe hamstring injury early in the domestic campaign.
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Lolesio is among a raft of Brumbies set to be included in Rennie's first match day squad, to be announced on Friday, as the Wallabies look to snap an 18-year Bledisloe Cup drought.
Allan Alaalatoa is likely to play a key role in the front-row while Rob Valetini could join Lolesio on the pine. Queensland trio Harry Wilson, Filipo Daugunu and Hunter Paisami will reportedly be thrown straight into the cauldron.
"There might be a few surprises in terms of what people think but it's probably not a surprise to us in terms of how they've operated or performed in the environment," Wallabies assistant coach Matt Taylor said.
"Most of the squad have put themselves in the position to be selected and we've just got to work out the best team that has the ability to win this Test match.
"We're probably having a little bit of a guessing game between both squads. The main thing we've focused on, being a new coaching group, is embedding our structures.
"We don't know how the All Blacks are going to operate so we've just been really focused on us."
Defence guru Taylor says the Wallabies are bracing to unleash a new style of football under Rennie's new-look coaching staff, with Scott Wisemantel orchestrating the attack and Geoff Parling steeling the forwards.
This is a coaching group harbouring experience as rugby mentors in New Zealand, Scotland and England.
"I think you will certainly see a change in how the Wallabies operate from maybe how it's gone in the past," Taylor said.
"We've got a really exciting coaching group. We've all had different influences and experiences.
"We've spent a lot of time talking about how we want to coach the Wallabies to get clarity around certain areas and have challenged each other and tried to come up what we believe is the best method moving forward.
"Hopefully the public will see what we're all about come Sunday."
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
