As the Wallabies sat down for their team meeting for Georgia, a familiar face awaited them on the opposition with a slightly different name: Luke Reimashivli.
Brumbies flanker Luke Reimer was riding high off a strong 2024 that saw him established as one of the best finishers in Super Rugby before a sudden call had him entrenched in Wallabies camp for the clash with the Georgians.
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“Langi (Gleeson) got injured leading into that week and I was just training in Canberra, messaged Joe (Schmidt) and Laurie (Fisher) to see what they wanted from me in club footy and they said they’d get back to me, sure enough, that afternoon they called and asked if I could come up to Sydney in a couple of hours," he revealed to Rugby.com.au.
"Joe did crop a photo of my head on a Georgian jersey in the first team meeting and called me Reimashivli.
“He just told me just to contest when I can and be physical, because that's what they bring, all looking like a bunch of Georgian wrestlers.”
'Reimashivli' impressed Schmidt and the coaching staff, remaining with the squad for the Rugby Championship.
When Fraser McReight was ruled out with injury, the Wallabies boss turned to his Georgian impersonator for a finishing role against the physical Springboks in Brisbane, allowing Reimer to live out a childhood dream.
“It was pretty awesome and doesn’t come lightly. It was a dream come true and everything I’ve really worked towards in my career," he said on the debut.
“It's disappointing that we lost that game. We talked about it after, they're definitely a beatable side…but when you look back, it’s only good memories for me,
“It was a dream come true running out there, to have my family there and have a few friends come up from Sydney.
“I'm definitely looking forward and wanting to get more, so that's definitely the goal.”
Reimer finds himself in a fierce battle with fellow openside flankers McReight and Carlo Tizzano for the British and Irish Lions.
The pair were favoured for the Spring Tour, with Reimer a standout in Australia XV's defeat to England A.
“Any competition is healthy competition, whether or not it’s battling head-to-head up front when we play Brumbies-Force or Brumbies-Reds or whether it’s in camp with the guys in my position, I’m looking forward to it," he said.
“I want to be in that jersey so I'm going to put everything I can into this season for the Brums…I want to get to that final and winning that final and hold the trophy.”
McReight and Tizzano have been favoured in the past, putting Reimer in a position he relishes.
Reimer is the epitome of what the Brumbies represent, holding onto the 'misfits' tag after travelling down from Sydney initially as an extra training member.
"We've got a good culture. We're all probably tied together by the misfits from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, and I think that's really, stuck, and that's been our identity, that we're all in this together," he asserts.
“Most of the people here aren't from Canberra, but we're all banded together in the same boat. When we're in the situation that we are with a few local boys that have that dying Canberra pride, I think that really, boosts us and really drives us to put performances together and get wins on the board.
“(Misfits) was definitely the case for me and a few of the other boys my age used to play schoolboys and then we were in the system coming out of school and the opportunity came (up) down here when nothing else was on the table.
“There’s definitely quite a few of us that have that desire that we want to prove the teams that didn't want us wrong and I feel like we've done that the past couple of years and we're going to keep doing that.”
