WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Noah Lolesio's decision to take up a contract in Japan next year has posed another challenge to head coach Joe Schmidt as he assembles a Wallabies squad to play the British and Irish Lions in July.
The 32-test veteran likely was the leading candidate to be the starting flyhalf for the Wallabies in this important season for Australian rugby.
His pending move from the Canberra-based Brumbies to a Japanese club came as a surprise to local rugby followers when it was announced on Friday, and will test Schmidt’s resolve to deal sternly with players who choose overseas contracts ahead of the national jersey.
Schmidt may have set a precedent earlier this year when he rescinded an invitation to Langi Gleeson to join a Wallabies training camp when he discovered that the Waratahs backrower planned to join French club Montpellier.
The 25-year-old Lolesio started in 11 of 13 tests last season after being dropped by former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones and recalled by Schmidt. He played on a short-term contract for the French club Toulon before returning to Australia and to the No. 10 jersey.
Jones had preferred the Western Force flyhalf Ben Donaldson and Waratahs playmaker Carter Gordon, who left the sport last year to play in Australia’s National Rugby League. Tane Edmed, who also has test experience, has been in a contest with Lawson Creighton for the Wallabies No. 10 jersey this season.
Lolesio’s current Super Rugby season was disrupted by a concussion in Round 1 and was sidelined for three weeks. He had been working his way back into form before the ACT Brumbies’ bye in the weekend’s eighth round.
His loss is a particular blow for the Brumbies, who have routinely reached the Super Rugby playoffs in recent seasons with Lolesio’s assistance.
“We’ve been advised by Noah that he’s taking up an offer overseas in 2026,” Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson said. “We wish him all the best in the next stage of his rugby career and thank him for his contribution to the Brumbies.”
Lolesio so far has signed a one-year contract in Japan with an option for a second. Details of the club have not been released.
If Schmidt is not prepared to consider him for selection, the Queensland Reds’ Tom Lynagh and Donaldson come back into contention.
Lynagh came off the bench to score a try in the Reds’ 27-15 loss to the Chiefs in a top-of-the-table contest on Friday. He has 50 points in the season so far and Donaldson has 72. Lynagh has a goalkicking success rate in 2025 of around 87% and Donaldson around 84%. Both bring a different style to the game, with the bigger Donaldson known for a more physical approach.
In another issue for Schmidt from Super Rugby this week, Waratahs fullback Max Jorgensen has an ankle injury and is likely to be sidelined for up to eight weeks. That would take him out of most of the remaining regular season.
Other leading Australian players sidelined at the weekend include Waratahs scrumhalf Jake Gordan, who has a medial ligament strain, hooker Dave Porecki, who has a calf strain, and former Wallabies captain Liam Wright, who has an ongoing, long-term shoulder problem.
Schmidt likely will be heartened by the solid performances of Australian Super Rugby teams this season. After eight rounds, the Reds, Force, Brumbies and Waratahs all are placed inside the top six playoffs zone.
Meanwhile, Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham has put in a strong word for his scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan to be considered for a test role this season. Lonergan has been on the verge of selection for some time.
“Ryan this year has really stepped up and focused hard on working on his skills in training and in the off season,” Larkham said. “I think he’s played sensationally this year.”
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - Australia's Noah Lolesio lines up a penalty kick during the Autumn Nations Series rugby union match between Ireland and Australia, at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)
The U.S. Supreme Court will not delay Karen Read’s second murder trial on claims of double jeopardy, setting the stage for opening statements to be presented next week.
Read’s attorneys had filed an emergency appeal for a delay in the trial, contending that trying her again on second-degree murder and leaving the scene would be double jeopardy. But the high court's denial means the trial could start early next week, since all but one of the jurors have been chosen. Jury selection began last week. Lawyers are seeking to seat 16 jurors, with four serving as alternates.
Read, who lives in Mansfield, Massachusetts, is accused of striking her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in 2022 outside a house party in nearby Canton. Her attorneys have said O’Keefe was actually killed by someone else, possibly another law enforcement agent who was at the party, and that she was framed.
Last year, the judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.
After the trial, several jurors came forward to say the group was unanimous in finding Read not guilty of the most serious charge, second-degree murder, and a lesser charge. Despite attempts by Read’s lawyers to get those charges dismissed, she will face the same counts as she did at her first trial. They also failed to have the entire case tossed, arguing governmental misconduct.
Read, who worked as a financial analyst and as a Bentley College adjunct professor before she was charged, faces second-degree murder and other charges in the death of John O’Keefe, who was 46 when he died. The 16-year police veteran was found unresponsive outside the home of a fellow Boston police officer.
After a night out drinking, prosecutors say Read, who is 45, dropped off O’Keefe at the house party just after midnight. As she made a three-point turn, prosecutors say, she struck O’Keefe before driving away. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.
As they did at the first trial, prosecutors will try to convince jurors that Read’s actions were intentional. They are expected to call witnesses who will describe how the couple's relationship had begun to sour before O'Keefe's death. Among them will be his brother, who testified during the first trial that the couple regularly argued over such matters as what Read fed O’Keefe’s children, and that he witnessed a 2021 fight the couple had in Cape Cod over how his brother treated her. The brother's wife testified that Read told her the couple had argued in Aruba after she caught O’Keefe kissing another woman.
The defense is expected to portray the investigation into O’Keefe’s death as shoddy and undermined by the close relationship investigators had with the police officers and other law enforcement agents who were at the house party.
Among the key witnesses they will call is former State Trooper Michael Proctor, who led the investigation but has since been fired after a disciplinary board found he sent sexist and crude texts about Read to his family and colleagues. He is also on the prosecution's witness list.
A key moment in the first trial was Proctor’s testimony, in which the defense suggested his texts about Read and the case showed he was biased, and had singled her out early in the investigation and ignored other potential suspects.
They also are expected to suggest Read was framed, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside the home during a fight with another partygoer and then dragged outside. In the first trial, defense attorneys suggested investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects.
Ahead of the second trial, the two sides sparred over whether Read's lawyers will be allowed to argue that someone else killed O'Keefe. Judge Beverly Cannone ruled Monday that attorneys can't mention potential third-party culprits in their opening statements but will be allowed to develop evidence against Brian Albert, a retired police officer who owned the Canton home, and his friend Brian Higgins. Lawyers cannot implicate Albert's nephew, Colin Albert, the judge said.
A town-commissioned Canton Police Department audit following O'Keefe's death was released Sunday. While not reinvestigating any cases, its top suggestions regarding Read's were that first responders should have photographed O'Keefe where he was found before he was moved; that all interviews of “critical witnesses” should have been done at the department after O'Keefe was taken to a hospital; and that agreed-to recordings of witness interviews be conducted.
Soon after the mistrial, Read's lawyers set out to get the main charges dropped.
They argued Judge Cannone declared a mistrial without polling the jurors to confirm their conclusions. Defense attorney Martin Weinberg said five jurors indicated after the trial that they were only deadlocked on the manslaughter count and had unanimously agreed that she wasn’t guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene, but that they hadn’t told the judge.
The defense said that because jurors had agreed Read wasn't guilty of murder and leaving the scene, retrying her on those counts would amount to double jeopardy. But Cannone rejected that argument, as did the state's highest court, a federal court judge, and an appeals court.
Prosecutors had urged Cannone to dismiss the double jeopardy claim, saying it amounted to "hearsay, conjecture and legally inappropriate reliance as to the substance of jury deliberations.” Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally argued that the jurors never indicated they had reached a verdict on any of the charges, were given clear instructions on how to reach a verdict, and that the defense had ample opportunity to object to the mistrial declaration.
The second trial will likely look similar to the first. It will be held in the same courthouse before the same judge, and dozens of Read's passionate supporters are again expected to rally outside. The charges, primary defense lawyers and many of the nearly 200 witnesses will also be the same.
The biggest difference will be the lead prosecutor, Hank Brennan. A former prosecutor and defense attorney who was brought in as a special prosecutor after the mistrial, Brennan has represented several prominent clients, including notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, and experts think he might be more forceful than Lally was in arguing the case.
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A Massachusetts State Police officer talks with supporters of Karen Read, who gathered prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read, outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Aidan Kearney, the blogger known as Turtleboy, walks towards court prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Prosecution attorney Adam Lally, right, arrives for jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Prosecution attorney Hank Brennan arrives for jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather during jury selection for the trial of Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
