Brumbies Noah Lolesio is relishing the growing competition between the young playmakers in Australia after an unbeaten start to Super Rugby Pacific.
The 22-year-old guided the Brumbies around in wet conditions to defeat former Junior Wallabies teammate Ben Donaldson and the Waratahs 27-20.
This comes just two weeks after pulling off a narrow win over the Force and ex-teammate Reesjan Pasitoa.
Lolesio was the first playmaker out of the so-called 'next generation' to breakout in Super Rugby, thrown into the deep end against the All Blacks in 2020.
As further young flyhalves such as Carter Gordon start to make their make, it only served as motivation for Lolesio to improve his craft.
"I think it's awesome to have depth in the flyhalf position throughout all of Australia. It keeps me on my toes because I know if I stay complacent, I'll go nowhere," he told reporters.
"Over the (past) 12 months I've been trying to improve myself physically and game management-wise as well and I think playing more minutes has helped with that.
"We saw that in the last game (against the Waratahs) that it was very wet, the old me probably would have tried to run everything, so it was different for me to step back in the pocket and lead the boys around.
“I feel like managing the game comes with more minutes (on the field) and I’m learning more and more from myself and how I can improve as a player and help the team out.
"I think (pressure) comes with the job, flyhalf is always under the spotlight isn’t it? You can't take it too seriously, you just play footy.”
The Brumbies are riding a wave of momentum after three straight wins at home, sitting second on the ladder.
This has come off the back of a fortuitous home stretch to start the season after a late draw change, switching games with the Force.
With a blockbuster match against the Reds next week at GIO signalling the last of their home games before the NZ switchover, Lolesio was hoping to build on their momentum, starting with Friday's clash with the Rebels at AAMI Park.
“It’s awesome having three (wins) in a row to start the season,” he added.
“We knew it was going to be tough against the Tahs last week so it’s awesome to start the year off like that and hopefully we can keep that going.
“We definitely think we can use GIO Stadium as our advantage, we know teams don’t like coming down here so we really know how important it is to win these games at home in front of our home fans.”
READ MORE:
RE-SIGN: Perese signs extension
TOTW: Valetini, JOC shines
FIVE THINGS: Drua impress in Super W
