He’s been out of sight and out of mind, but All Blacks legend Dan Carter believes former Brumbies playmaker Noah Lolesio is the playmaker best placed to lead the Wallabies deep into the 2027 World Cup playoffs.
“I’ve always thought Noah was the man,” Carter, the two-time World Cup champion, told reporters on Wednesday night following the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw in Sydney, which saw the Wallabies pooled alongside the All Blacks.
“But, unfortunately, at key times, he has had injuries, so if he can get his body right and build some consistency, then for me he’s shown enough on occasions to drive the team.”
Despite signing in Japan earlier this year, the 25-year-old shaped as Joe Schmidt’s preferred candidate to wear the No.10 jersey against the British and Irish Lions.
But a scary injury on the eve of the historic series against Fiji in early July forced Lolesio to go under the knife and miss the rest of the Wallabies’ marathon 15-Test campaign.
In his absence, Joe Schmidt gave chances to four others to wear the No.10 jersey – Tom Lynagh, James O’Connor, Tane Edmed and Carter Gordon – as well as another two, Ben Donaldson and Hamish Stewart, off the bench, but no one commanded themselves in the role in the absence of Lolesio.
Noah Lolesio hasn’t played for the Wallabies since suffering a devastating injury against Fiji on July 06, 2025 in Newcastle. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Lolesio’s decision to head to Japan and sign with League Two outfit Toyota Industries Shuttles also led many to believe the 30-Test playmaker had harmed his chances of continuing in his Test career with the Wallabies.
It also came after a topsy-turvy six years at the international level, where Lolesio was in and out under Dave Rennie, before failing to earn selection under Eddie Jones.
However, Carter’s endorsement isn’t likely to fall on deaf ears less than two years out from the World Cup.
Asked what he liked about Lolesio’s game, the modern day great said the little playmaker had shown he could command a team around and pointed to the Brumbies’ success when No.10 was driving the bus.
“When the Brumbies are performing well, it’s normally off the back of him playing good rugby,” Carter said.
“He can influence a game when the other team are hot on attack or when you’re under pressure, he’s got the ability to bring the momentum back into their favour, so just the matter of being able to do that on a consistent basis is the key.”
Carter, who was 34 when he steered the All Blacks to back-to-back World Cup triumphs in 2015, didn’t rule out O’Connor continuing his storied career, but said he was excited by the crop of youngsters emerging in Australian rugby.
“I should probably ask Joe, I think he’s in the room next door,” quipped Carter, having been on the panel for the World Cup draw.
“But I think you’ve got a lot of young talent and you want to really blood those guys, and you’ve still got time to give them.
“There’s been a lot of injuries for the Wallabies this year and I think that’s a big part of the reason that James has been called upon.
“He did a great job in filling that void but there is a lot of young talent, and I think Super Rugby is an amazing opportunity for a lot of those young number tens to put their hands up and say that they want that jersey and they want to be driving the Wallabies side in two years at the 2027 World Cup.”
Dan Carter believes Noah Lolesio could come from nowhere to start for the Wallabies at the 2027 World Cup. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
Carter, who helped sink the Wallabies in 2015 with a brilliantly taken long-range field goal at Twickenham in the World Cup final, added that whoever ultimately wears the No.10 jersey needs to have their “core basics” down pat.
“World Cups are different, there’s different expectations and pressures, things happen in World Cups that you can’t even imagine whether it’s referee decisions or cards or injuries, you just don’t know, so you want the driver of the team to just be doing the fundamentals of the game and performing well under those extreme amounts of pressure,” he said.
“So great communication, great kicking, passing and just directing the team around the field is really important, but also that ability to change momentum when the game’s needed.
“There’s still plenty of time to figure that out for the Wallabies.”
Schmidt admitted that settling on a preferred playmaker would be important, but added that even though other nations, including the All Blacks, had more experience, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing at this point that the No.10 jersey was wide open.
“We’re going to be watching closely in how things go through Super Rugby, but some consistency at ten will help without a doubt,” he said.
“We’ve had a bit of consistency in the midfield and not so much at half-back with the changes, but we’ve got good experienced players there.
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see who comes through Super Rugby and who’s playing well, but we feel we’ve got some options, just none of them with massive experience.
“I know that we’ve been drawn against New Zealand. They’ll have probably the same three tens that we had when I was coaching there from the last World Cup with Richie Mo’unga, Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie, who have well over 200 tests between them, so that’s a difference.
“It doesn’t have to be an advantage if we’ve had the time to really develop someone in that position.”
His comments came after the Wallabies were pooled alongside their trans-Tasman rivals, the All Blacks, in Pool A.
The winner of the pool will likely set up a quarterfinal showdown with the Springboks. The pool’s runner-up will likely take on Jones’ Japan in the round of 16, before a possible quarterfinal with England.
Dan Carter speaks to the media following the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw announcement. Photo: World Rugby
Meanwhile, Carter, who played alongside Barrett at the 2015 World Cup, was non-committal around who would wear the No.10 jersey for the All Blacks, but said the competition for spots was healthy two years out from the next tournament.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.
“Obviously Beaudie’s been steering the ship this year, you had D-Mac for the majority of last year, you’ve got Richie Mo’unga coming back, so what I love about that is the competition.
“Exactly who is driving the ship is anyone’s opportunity to grab a hold of that jersey, but they’ll all be competing – and that’s exactly what you want.
“The coaches have come out and said they want squad depth, three to four players in each position and when you’ve got world class players and depth in key positions like the No. 10 jersey, then it’s a real positive.”
Christy Doranhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/12/04/the-man-dan-carters-shock-endorsement-for-wallabies-no-10-jersey-at-2027-world-cup/‘The man’: Dan Carter’s shock endorsement for Wallabies No.10 jersey at 2027 World Cup
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