Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii picked in 34-man Wallabies squad for UK tour

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt isn’t sure just what position former NRL star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will play on the Spring Tour but is confident he will make his international rugby debut in the UK next month in what looms as a baptism of fire for the former schoolboys star.

The rapid elevation of Suaalii, signed to the biggest contract in Australian rugby history, in to Schmit’s 34-man squad comes less than a month after his NRL career ended last with defeat against the Storm in the preliminary final.

Despite not playing a game of rugby since his school days, the big money recruit has wasted no time in making the move to the 15-man code having impressed at a mini camp last week and Schmidt was adamant Suaalii was not picked just to travel with the team for the sake of gaining experience.

He us one of three uncapped players in the squad alongside Tane Edmed and Harry Potter, with the former Roosters centre set to feature at some stage in Tests against England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

The question now is where the former King’s School representative will play for the Wallabies who are without veteran Marika Koroibete for the tour.

“We’re not absolutely sure ourselves,” Schmidt conceded on Tuesday afternoon.

“I know that at school he played fullback and wing and in the centres. I think he played wing for the Australian under-18s when Josh Flook was the captain of that team. I think there’s a bit of flexibility about where he best fits in.”

 

There were suggestions Suaalii would be picked for the Australia XV squad instead to gain valuable experience, but Schmidt said it was crucial to get him in the national team now given the British and Irish Lions will tour the country in 2025.

“We play the Lions next, so if he doesn’t debut on this tour then there’s very little window – maybe one opportunity – to play before the Lions next year, and that would be it,” Schmidt said.

“We feel a little bit of pressure to be able to fast track him and integrate those other guys as well.

“I think having had a couple of discussions with Joseph having had him in the hub at Canberra last week, he’s a kid who works hard on his game and is quick to pick things up.

“The other part of it is we want to make sure that we give him the best runway possible to try to get involved in the Wallabies.

“He could’ve gone with Seiby (Australia XV coach Rod Seib) and we would’ve been pretty comfortable with that.

“We talked about that as an option to get a little bit of game time before stepping up for the Wallabies, but while I think there’ll be quite a bit of continuity between the two teams, just being in an environment where we get to know him as well is what we felt was most beneficial for us and hopefully Joseph and the team.

“It’s possible (that he plays his first game for the Australia XV) but it’s probably more likely that he’ll start or come off the bench in a Wallaby fixture because while we’re in the same part of the world, we’re still quite separate (from the other team).”

Schmidt doesn’t expect other backs to feel any resentment towards Suaalii given other NRL converts like Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri came in and excelled.

While Suaalii’s rugby career is just starting, former Storm star Koroibete may have played his final Test for the Wallabies after he was left out of the squad.

The 32-year-old “is just having a break” before he has to return to his Japanese side, with Schmidt to decide next year if Koroibete will come back into the team.

“He probably felt that he wasn’t at the very top of his game, and he was a little bit flat after the season that he’d had. He’s required to be back and training with Panasonic reasonably soon so he’s going to get a break and then he’ll head back,” he said.

“They’re discussions that will probably take place in March or April next year to see how he’s going.

“We’ve got some young wingers starting to come through and put pressure on, and we’d love them to come in and put pressure where Marika feels that pressure and it becomes a really tough decision for us.”

WALLABIES SQUAD FOR SPRING TOUR

Forwards: Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Bell, Matt Faessler, Nick Frost, Langi Gleeson, Isaac Kailea, Fraser McReight, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Billy Pollard, Tom Robertson, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Will Skelton, James Slipper, Carlo Tizzano, Taniela Tupou, Seru Uru, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson.

Backs: Ben Donaldson, Tane Edmed, Jake Gordon, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Samu Kerevi, Noah Lolesio, Tate McDermott, Hunter Paisami, Dylan Pietsch, Harry Potter, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Nic White, Tom Wright.

 

Tour Fixtures - 2024 Spring Tour

Wallabies v England, 2:10am AEDT, Sunday November 10, Twickenham, London

Wallabies v Wales, 3:10am AEDT, Monday November 18, Principality Stadium, Cardiff

Wallabies v Scotland, 12:40am AEDT, Monday November 25, Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Wallabies v Ireland, 2:10am AEDT, Sunday December 1, Aviva Stadium, Dublin