Wallabies' Perese looking to grab World Cup opportunity | Latest … – Rugby.com.au

Centre Izaia Perese is eager to make the most of his long-awaited call up to the Wallabies side against Portugal.
Perese will make his World Cup debut on Monday (AEDT time) in Saint Etienne, replacing Jordan Petaia after he pulled up sore following last week's defeat.
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The centre will have familar faces inside him, joined by Waratahs teammates Lalakai Foketi and Ben Donaldson.
"I'm excited; it's part of footy and if you don't get to play, you don't get to play and you've got to do your very best to prepare the team for that week," Perese said.
"But this week I finally get an opportunity so I'm just thinking about doing my job for the boys and you know, putting a lot of pride into that jersey for everyone back home as well."
Perese's journey and return to Rugby has been well documented.
He always had the talent to deliver on the big stage and if he'd stayed down the league path, he may be playing in a grand final for Brisbane instead.
He switched between rugby and rugby league, where he played two NRL games for Brisbane, faced a drug charge back in 2019 and battled depression.
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Injuries have also limited his Test career to just five caps, losing the majority of the 2022 international season with a knee injury.
"It's a huge 'pinch myself moment', I've definitely come a long way," Perese said.
"But all I'm thinking about right now is doing a job on the weekend and that's about it."
As well as Perese and Foketi, five-eighth Ben Donaldson and winger Mark Nawaqanitawase all play for NSW in the Super Rugby Pacific competition and Perese hoped their backline combination could reap rewards against Portugal.
The Australians take on the world No.16 in Saint-Etienne on Sunday (Monday 2.45am AEDT) looking to salvage something from their France campaign.
"Most definitely – we've trained really well together this week and there's a lot of familiarity with Donno (Donaldson) and La (Foketi) having the opportunity to play three years together," Perese said.
"We trust each other, we've grown together over the three years so hopefully after the week we've had, on Sunday we can change things up and do the best we can." 
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