He missed his shot at NRL grand final redemption but the pay-off could be a Bledisloe Cup baptism of fire for Marika Koroibete as the Fiji-born flyer bids to nail down a permanent spot on the end of the Wallabies backline.
Koroibete's two-try display on his starting debut in Australia's 27-all draw with South Africa last Saturday has almost certainly earned the former Melbourne Storm star another Rugby Championship appearance against Argentina on Sunday (AEDT).
But it's not only welcome news for Koroibete after he sacrificed a premiership with the Storm to pursue a career in rugby.
Koroibete's success may have finally solved a selection headache for Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
Cheika has tried eight wingers and six different wing combinations in eight Tests so far in 2017, but may have finally cracked the code in Bloemfontein, with Koroibete offering the blinding speed to complement the toughness and long-range goalkicking reliability of Reece Hodge.
Cheika will name his team to face the Pumas in Mendoza on Friday morning, with Koroibete set to retain his place and push his case for a first-time Bledisloe Cup start against the All Blacks in Brisbane in two weeks.
Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau says the Australian forwards will need to earn the right first for Koroibete and the rest of the slick Australian backline to showcase their attack.
Despite being winless in their five Rugby Championship matches this campaign, the Pumas drew 7-all with the All Blacks in a torrid second half of last weekend's 36-10 loss in Buenos Aires.
Polota-Nau is bracing for a torrid time in Mendoza, where the Pumas shocked the Wallabies 21-17 in 2014.
"I'm sure they'll be looking to making an 80-minute performance against us so I'm expecting something similar to their second-half performance (against New Zealand)," Polota-Nau said.
"In Canberra (last outing), everyone was an attacking threat, especially in the forwards.
"They like to play off the back of the ruck, typical of Argentinian rugby, with nice offloads. They're very hard to stop.
"Our defence, we need to make sure we stop them by holding them and not letting those passes get away.
"But even in attack we just need to make sure we just go straight through them rather than around them because they're really defensive out wide around the edges."
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