Michael Hooper heaps praise on Wallabies Test rookie Lachie Lonergan

He was at least faring better than rugby league icon Paul Vautin did when he met Ben Ikin at a Queensland team hotel ahead of State of Origin in 1995. The Maroons mentor thought his would-be utility was a kid hunting autographs.

But Lachie Lonergan was still something of an unknown for Australian captain Hooper as he pressed for a Test debut against France.

Lonergan's breakout Super Rugby campaign with the ACT Brumbies came when Hooper was in the midst of a salary-boosting stint in Japanese rugby.

But much like Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, Hooper liked what he saw from the physical 21-year-old.

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Which goes some way towards describing why Lonergan is in line for his second Test cap off the bench against France in Melbourne on Tuesday night.

"He doesn't say too much, he's still a young fella," Hooper said.

"The eyes were quite wide in the first couple of weeks with how much training you had to get done and some of the attention to detail that our coaching staff want us to bring to the table.

"He's had a quick learning, and he has picked it up well to his credit, I've been impressed."

Lonergan has already emerged as something of a cult favourite among Brumbies fans.

Maybe it's his ferocity in defence, his post-tackle presence or the long hair poking out beyond his headgear.

"You won't find anyone to say a bad word about Lachlan, or 'Noss' as we call him. He hasn't got comfortable to tell everyone his nickname is Noss yet," Wallabies and Brumbies winger Tom Wright grinned.

The origins of that nickname stretch back to when Lonergan was a kid, when his parents Jenny and Tom were calling him 'Lachie Larnos'. His brother Ryan, himself a Brumby who was called into Wallabies camp as scrumhalf cover, couldn't pronounce it.

So Noss it was.

Now he joins a young Wallabies side hunting for their first piece of silverware in the Rennie era.

The Wallabies are chasing an unassailable series lead with one match still to come, having overturned a 15-point deficit in the first Test to secure a win at the death.

It is seen as the kind of character-building win the Wallabies needed after three agonising draws last year - against New Zealand and twice against Argentina - cost them the chance to lift the Tri Nations trophy.

"It was pleasing for us, no doubt. When you say it like that, 15-0 down, we weren't really taking that in too much at the time," Hooper said.

"We were focusing on what we could control. Yes, there was 15 points on the board, but then we started to get a bit of a run of things.

"Can we get down into their zone? Can we stay in their zone? What type of points are we going to put on the board? Having an outlook on it 'what's our plan on the way forward', and trying to avoid the thinking of 'oh god, 15 points, how are we going to get back into the game'.

"There's going to be times where there is going to be challenges like that throughout the year, across the course of teams we're going to play, and perhaps even [on Tuesday] night.

"To have a bit of practice at that, we're only going to get better."

WALLABIES V FRANCE

Second Test: Tuesday - Australia v France at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, 8pm. Broadcast live on Nine and Stan Sport. Tickets from Ticketek.

Wallabies squad: 1. James Slipper, 2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 3. Taniela Tupou, 4. Matt Philip, 5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Michael Hooper (c), 8. Harry Wilson, 9. Jake Gordon, 10. Noah Lolesio, 11. Marika Koroibete, 12. Matt To'omua, 13. Hunter Paisami, 14. Tom Wright, 15. Tom Banks. Replacements: 16. Lachlan Lonergan, 17. Angus Bell, 18. Allan Alaalatoa, 19. Darcy Swain, 20. Isi Naisarani, 21. Tate McDermott, 22. Len Ikitau, 23. Andrew Kellaway.

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