1
How Wallaby teammate describes playing alongside 'freak' Joseph Suaalii
By PA
Australia centre Len Ikitau has described his Wallabies midfield partner Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii as “a freak” following an unforgettable display against England.
Suaalii’s first professional game of rugby union saw him deliver a player-of-the-match performance as Australia triumphed 42-37.
World-class contributions in all areas defied the 21-year-old former rugby league star’s lack of experience as a union player.
And he could easily wreak similar havoc when Australia tackle out-of-sorts Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
“He is a freak, man,” Ikitau said, during a Wallabies press conference in the Welsh capital.
“Just being able to play next to him and see what he can do on the field is awesome. And we are just expecting more from him now he has had his first game.
“We saw all of that at training. He came in, he did what he needed to learn and just showcased his skills on the field.
“I thought it was awesome to see him defending the 13 channel. He just wanted to be involved and wanted to get the ball.”
Suaalii’s breathtaking Wallabies debut was probably the last thing Wales needed to see, especially as they now go into the Autumn Nations Series clash one defeat away from a record 11th successive Test match loss.
A 24-19 reversal against Fiji came just a day after Australia saw off England in a classic Twickenham encounter, and the Wallabies will be confident of collecting a 10th win from their last 12 Cardiff visits.
Suaalii is set to be at the heart of that, and even if they have not faced him in person yet, Wales certainly know all about him.
“Seriously impressive,” was how Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe described Suaalii’s masterclass.
“He made the game look pretty easy, didn’t he?” Anscombe said. “But look, it is going to be a great challenge and I am sure he will probably start in the midfield.
“I thought he had a sensational debut. He was dangerous, good in the air and quite a rangy player.”
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Gloucester Rugby accounts reveal £3 million drop in turnover
3
Exeter Chiefs close to revealing new attack and backs coach
4
Edinburgh face anxious wait over Duhan van der Merwe
5
Latest Comments
The extent to which rugby pundits in NZ rely on their rose tinted spectacles really baffles me. Anton Lienert-Brown has been a good but nothing more player for a few seasons now. For an experienced player he gives a maddening amount of penalties and yellow cards too so I don’t give him any credit for all that experience.
If you had a clean slate and knew nothing about history, the guy wouldn’t be anywhere near people’s choice for 13 (or 12) if you only watch super rugby the last couple of seasons. Bailyn Sullivan / Billy Proctor / AJ Lam / Tavatavanawai to just just a few have all looked miles better than ALB.
How on earth does that end up with people saying he should be in the squad let alone starting. We have to move on from these type of players - he was never a great player and we have so many alternate options.
There is a group of mediocre players that we need to clear out, or at least try other options. We know how limited that group are, now is the time to see if some other talent can step up (the time was last year, but anyway…).
Jacobson, ALB, Papali’i, Christie, Lord, Havili, Reece. Just move on from them all and try for some upside. Thank god Cane/Perenara have finally moved on because they were in this camp too.
Go to commentsI don't think that Razor would have had Mo’unga as back up to anyone! But in his absence DMac definitely deserved to start in Paris.
The system is working well but I hope they've reviewed whether they could have done anything more to retain Mo’unga & Frizell. As you say, could they have been more flexible?
Go to comments