New Wallabies prop Massimo De Lutiis has credited the influence of fellow stars Allan Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou as he navigates his debut season in gold.
De Lutiis, who became Wallaby #1000 against Japan in Townsville, has been learning the ropes of two of the Wallabies' best ahead of Saturday's second Test in Mendoza.
Watch every second of the Wallabies 2026 season live and on demand via Stan Sport.
The 22-year-old produced a strong scrummaging effort off the bench last week in Jujuy, drawing on their experience to silence the raucous crowd.
“I can't even put it into words how helpful they’ve been. When I first got called in, I asked Allan if it gets easier, and he said yeah, it does,” he smiled.
“Allan and 'Nela has been helping with the scrum and also just like nerves before games and all that. They've been supporting me heaps, which has been really good.
"I think the scrummaging along with ‘Luge’ [John Ulugia] has been just really good in terms of helping me out with that.”
De Lutiis has already had a crash course in his young career, making his first professional start for Australia A against England A in 2024, before he pulled on a Reds jersey at Super Rugby level.
“Different teams are going to have different nuances in terms of scrummaging," he explained.
"The Argentinian scrum, they're big boys and they're heavy. I think that was the biggest difference between Japan and Argentina. I think there's just little tricks and stuff that they play around with that I've got to get used to, but I've been loving the challenge.”
The Wallabies are preparing for another parochial crowd in Argentina, looking for their first away sweep of Los Pumas in their history.
“I think it's just a good challenge and a big test for what is to come. It's a great opportunity and I'm really excited about it," De Lutiis added.
“'Kissy' [coach Les Kiss] has been really driving that message of just focusing on ourselves, our process and keeping it within our group and not letting the outside noise takeover."
