Wallabies suffer major setback ahead of British & Irish Lions series as star playmaker quits Australian rugby
Noah Lolesio in action for the Wallabies and the Brumbies.
The Wallabies suffered a major setback ahead of their three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions with the news that Noah Lolesio is leaving Australian rugby to play in Japan.
Lolesio informed his team-mates at Super Rugby Pacific outfit the Brumbies that he has signed a one-year contract with an unnamed Japanese club for 2026, with an option to play until the end of 2027.
“We’ve been advised by Noah that he’s taking up an offer overseas in 2026,” said Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson in a press statement.
‘Thank for him for his contribution to the Brumbies’
“We wish him all the best in the next stage of his rugby career and thank him for his contribution to the Brumbies.”
The 25-year-old fly-half made his Super Rugby debut for the Canberra-based outfit in 2020 and delivered several excellent performances before the Covid-19 pandemic ended the competition prematurely.
Lolesio went on to make his international debut for Australia in a Bledisloe Cup clash later that year and has cemented himself as the Wallabies’ first-choice number 10 in recent seasons.
He started in nine out of 14 Tests in 2024 but has made a slow start to the Brumbies‘ 2025 Super Rugby Pacific campaign as he was sidelined due to concussion, which he sustained in their tournament opener against the Fijian Drua in Suva in February.
Back in action after concussion
He returned to action against the same opposition last month and was expected to call the shots as the starting fly-half for the Wallabies in the eagerly anticipated series against the Lions in July.
Rugby Australia has no official policy on players who have signed to play overseas beyond this year’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign being unavailable for Test selection.
However, Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt decided to ‘uninvite’ Waratahs back-row Langi Gleeson to a three-day training camp after it was revealed that he had signed a two-year deal with Top 14 outfit Montpellier.
Apart from establishing himself in the Wallabies set-up, Lolesio has also been a vital cog in the Brumbies machine and is their regular starting fly-half.
He helped them win several Australian Conference titles at Super Rugby level and played a leading role when they won the Super Rugby AU competition in his debut season in 2020.
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