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international
Wallabies scrum-half Ryan Lonergan stepped off the team bus before training on a chilly Tuesday morning in Auckland, four days after the Bledisloe Cup Test. It prompted Lonergan to reflect on the year that was, as he was last at the training ground before making his Wallaby gold debut.
Lonergan featured in Wallabies teams under Dave Rennie and then Eddie Jones, but did not make his debut until The Rugby Championship last year. The then 27-year-old played more than 90 Super Rugby games before becoming Wallaby number 933.
Tate McDermott wore the number 9 jersey in the first test of the 2025 Bledisloe Cup series, but a hamstring injury caused coach Joe Schmdit to make a first-half change. Lonergan featured for the remaining 62 minutes, and made five more Tests before the year was over.
374 days after his first Test appearance, Lonergan arrived at training as a regular starter for the Wallabies. ‘Lonners’ has started in all eight Test matches this season and has had at least two shots on goal in seven of those appearances.
“A year is a long time. I’ve played a lot of football since then. I’ve just been able to continue to develop my game at Brums throughout the season and now obviously here at Test level,” Lonergan told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’m excited for the challenge.”
Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson started July Nations Championship as a goal scorer for the Wallabies, before Lonergan took the lead with eight successful conversions in games against Six Nations sides France and Italy.
Lonergan has scored 26 conversions in the last seven Tests and kicked four penalty goals in the last six weeks. The dynamic halfback finished with a 17-point haul in the Wallabies’ incredible 42-38 win over the Springboks late last month.
“At the start of Super Rugby, I hadn’t kicked for a while and was probably just getting back into the swing of kicking,” Lonergan said.
“As a backdrop to Super, I started to enjoy it a bit more.
“When I was younger I really loved kicking goals all the time and the last couple of years when I wasn’t kicking I came back. It was another thing I had to think about and I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as I do now.
“Honestly, that’s kind of the only change. You just go through that confidence and it’s worked for me.”
If Lonergan is named to start against All black peopleThe Wallaby could potentially line up opposite Cam Roigard for the first time at Test level. Roigard is one of three halfbacks selected in the All Blacks squad, and coach Dave Rennie is consistent with those selections.
Cortez Ratima and Kyle Preston are other contenders for the starting XI, but Roigard has been a regular in the First XV for several seasons, including four starts in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the Springboks.
“He’s a great player. He’s been a class act for them, he’s a big attacking threat. He’s obviously got a great left foot,” explained Lonergan.
“It’s going to be exciting. Obviously we’ve met a few times, but not at Test level.”
“It would be fun. He’s obviously a threat in trouble and he’s setting the time around the fights, so we know that, we’ve looked into it a little bit and we’re going to do our best to shut him down.”
