Ben Lucas has endured a history of Wallabies near misses but the Queensland Reds Mr Fix-It can play his way into the Test No.10 jersey by turning Australia’s playmaking curse on its head.
Lucas can throw down the gauntlet for a Wallabies debut by helping the defending champions end the pace-setting Chiefs’ nine-match Super Rugby winning streak at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
A jam-packed mid-year Test schedule and injuries to playmaking contenders Quade Cooper, James O’Connor and Christian Lealiifano have made the Queensland utility back a No.10 bolter for the June 2 Test against Scotland.
While only injury would prevent Kurtley Beale becoming the Wallabies five-eighth for next month’s three-Test series against Wales, Lucas’s form and combination with Reds halfback Will Genia has him in line to start the opening Test of the year.
Coach Robbie Deans has said he’ll lean heavily on Queensland and Western Force players for the midweek clash against the Scots in Newcastle due to their Super Rugby byes the previous weekend.
Beale’s Melbourne Rebels play the Brumbies on the Friday night, four days before, and it would be a risk to make the injury-plagued match-winner turn out for three games in eight days.
Lucas is a leading alternative following the broken ankle to Brumbies playmaker Lealiifano, and is also helped by having Wallabies experience on last year’s end-of-season tour.
The 24-year-old was actually told to warm up for his Test debut off the bench as a halfback replacement against Wales only for Deans to keep Genia on the field for the full 80 minutes in the 24-18 win.
“I spoke to Robbie after the game and he said to keep my head up and keep trying,” Lucas said.
“He didn’t need to make sure my motivation would drop.”
It was Lucas’s third near miss after John Connolly admitted Berrick Barnes pipped him for the last spot in the 2007 World Cup squad and he was again overlooked for the 2011 tournament when his utility value beckoned.
But the former Australian Schoolboys five-eighth, who has since lived in Genia’s and Cooper’s shadows, has his chance to shine in his fourth start at No.10 for the Reds on Sunday.
After impressive displays against the Blues and Crusaders, a head-to-head battle against in-form All Blacks playmaker Aaron Cruden in a must-win match for the Reds presents as a genuine Test audition.
Lucas won’t allow such thoughts to creep into his head but is enjoying his move to No.10.
“I’m definitely starting to get more comfortable there,” Lucas told AAP.
“I think the combinations are starting to build with the consistency and we’re starting to flow and play good rugby.”
After being struck down with a hamstring injury in his first five-eighth start in round four, sidelining him for five weeks, Lucas can feel as though he’s become immune to the current No.10 hoodoo.
“There are people going around saying there’s a curse on the jersey and there’s a few jokes being thrown around at training,” he said.
“There’s a few of the superstitious boys who have said you will want to wear No.20-something.”