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Joe Schmidt tempers Joseph Suaalii hype after debut for the ages
By Josh Raisey
Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has described Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii's player of the match debut against England as "confidence-boosting", but was reluctant to shower the 21-year-old in praise too soon, insisting he is still "finding his feet".
In what was his first game of professional rugby union after his much-vaunted switch from rugby league just over a month ago, the former Sydney Roosters wing produced a match-leading four offloads at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium, one of which a try assist, as the Wallabies triumphed over England 37-42.
While it was a display that will be much-discussed over the coming days and weeks, Schmidt was keen to deflect attention from the rising star after the match, instead heaping praise on fellow centre Len Ikitau, describing the No 12 as "outstanding".
Though sparing in his commendation, Schmidt did still describe the outside centre as an "aerial freak" as the Wallabies made great use of his 1.96m frame with their kicks.
It was a performance that the Kiwi nevertheless believes answers some of the "doubts" that had arisen over the former NRL star's inclusion.
"I thought he was strong," Schmidt said when reflecting on the young centre's performance. "I thought he was really well supported by Lenny Ikitau, Lenny was outstanding. Even at the end of the game, he took the corner, drew the defender, released Max Jorgensen. I thought those two dove-tailed pretty well through that midfield.
"Joseph obviously got a few kick-offs back for us, he's a bit of an aerial freak. But at the same time, it was a good learning experience for Joseph as well.
"I know there were some doubts expressed about him being selected and the risk. I think people will now see the opportunity of involving a young man like that, particularly the way he prepared during the week. I thought he was really professional."
Schmidt explained how Suaalii's stint in rugby league - after coming through the rugby union pathway in Australia - has made him "incredibly diligent", which was seen in the build-up to the match in London.
But the former Ireland boss emphasised that his latest debutant still has to learn the "subtleties" of the new code, although his first showing will surely fill his coach and any Wallabies fandom with plenty of confidence.
"He played in school and came through the rugby union pathway, so he played for Australia U18 schoolboys," Schmidt added.
"So, he certainly has a rugby union pedigree albeit having played a few years of professional rugby league. Which has made him a really professional young man. At 21 years old, he is incredibly diligent around his preparation and that diligence pays off in the way that he performs.
"He's still probably finding his feet in the game, there are subtleties that are very different, but with that diligent work ethic, that professionalism and the athleticism that he possesses, I thought it was a really confidence-boosting debut."
Australia take on Wales next week, before Scotland and Ireland, with Suaalii likely to play a major role in their November tour.
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Latest Comments
The only benefit of the draft idea is league competitiveness. There would be absolutely no commercial value in a draft with rugby’s current interest levels.
I wonder what came first in america? I’m assuming it’s commercial aspect just built overtime and was a side effect essentially.
But the idea is not without merit as a goal. The first step towards being able to implement a draft being be creating it’s source of draftees. Where would you have the players come from? NFL uses college, and players of an age around 22 are generally able to step straight into the NFL. Baseball uses School and kids (obviously nowhere near pro level being 3/4 years younger) are sent to minor league clubs for a few years, the equivalent of the Super Rugby academies. I don’t think the latter is possible legally, and probably the most unethical and pointless, so do we create a University scene that builds on and up from the School scene? There is a lot of merit in that and it would tie in much better with our future partners in Japan and America.
Can we used the club scene and dispose of the Super Rugby academies? The benefit of this is that players have no association to their Super side, ie theyre not being drafted elshwere after spending time as a Blues or Chiefs player etc, it removes the negative of investing in a player just to benefit another club. The disadvantage of course is that now the players have nowhere near the quality of coaching and each countries U20s results will suffer (supposedly).
Or are we just doing something really dirty and making a rule that the only players under the age of 22 (that can sign a pro contract..) that a Super side can contract are those that come from the draft? Any player wanting to upgrade from an academy to full contract has to opt into the draft?
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You’ve got the perfect structure to run your 1A and 1B on a quota of club representation by Province. Have some balance/reward system in place to promote and reward competitiveness/excellence. Say each bracket has 12 teams, each province 3 spots, given the Irish Shield winner once of the bottom ranked provinces spots, so the twelve teams that make up 1A are 4 from Leinster, 3 each from Connacht and Munster, and 2 from Ulster etc. Run the same rule over 1B from the 1A reults/winner/bottom team etc. I’d imagine IRFU would want to keep participation to at least two teams from any one province but if not, and there was reason for more flexibility and competitveness, you can simply have other ways to change the numbers, like caps won by each province for the year prior or something.
Then give those clubs sides much bigger incentive to up their game, say instead of using the Pro sides for the British and Irish Cup you had going, it’s these best club sides that get to represent Ireland. There is plenty of interest in semi pro club cup competitions in europe that Ireland can invest in or drive their own creation of.
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