Wallabies flyhalf Noah Lolesio is proud to have delivered for his country after nailing the series-winning penalty - even if he concedes it wasn't his best strike.
With the series on the line, the 21-year-old held his nerve and kicked a 78th minute penalty to give Australia a 33-30 win over France at Suncorp Stadium.
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After missing an earlier attempt, which he admits he knew straight away he'd had hooked, Lolesio remained confident and calm in his abilities as he stepped up to take control of the match.
Whilst he admitted it wasn't his best strike out of his eight attempts of the night, he was pleased to see it sail through the posts as they claimed the series 2-1.
“When the penalty was called I told Hoops straight away to go for the three so as soon as the whistle was blown, I tried to calm myself down, and stick to my process because the one beforehand I hooked it a fair bit,” Lolesio said after the match.
“Honestly, it wasn’t the best strike but the fact I stayed on the 45 and followed through, it just went straight through.”
Heading into the camp seemingly as James O'Connor's understudy, the ability to step up and start for the entire series was something Lolesio had relished along with the opportunity to face a valiant and physical French side.
“Before the Test series I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Lolesio said. “Obviously with ‘Rabs’ (James O’Connor) being there and then he was injured so I was going to do everything in my control to do the best job for the team and I felt like I didn’t leave any stone unturned.
“I really wanted to do the jersey well, especially that number ten jersey because there are so many greats that have played in that jersey before so I want to leave a good mark for it.
“...With France, they like to keep it nice and close and grind it out for 80 minutes as we’ve seen in the past three games.
“That was the big moment for me, just staying in the moment. Obviously, things don’t go your way like tonight, Marika got a red card, shucks wasn’t expecting that at all so key learnings like that are learning how to adjust."
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Making the moment even more special was the opportunity to share it alongside good mates Darcy Swain and Len Ikitau, who were in their first starts for the country.
Having come through the Brumbies pathways together, Lolesio admits the chance to share the field at the end was something he would cherish.
“It’s awesome. Lenny (Ikitau) and (Darcy) Swainy are some of my closest mates so the fact that both were on the field together, it’s pretty crazy,” he admitted.
“2017-18 we all went through (Tuggeranong) Vikings in Canberra and four years later we’re playing in the same time for the Wallabies. If you would have told us that back in the day, we would have probably laughed so it’s awesome to be together."
