- Former Sydney Rooster made shock debut for Wallabies against England
- Finished with a win and man-of-the-match award in stunning debut
- Did not stop coach from relegating star to the bench for sophomore Test
Cross-code sensation Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has been given some surprise respite after his ‘whirlwind’ start to life as a winning Wallaby by being asked to warm the bench for the Test against Wales in Cardiff.
But coach Joe Schmidt still expects the 21-year-old to be a powerful, potentially game-changing option for Australia in a team he’s had to tinker with more than he would have liked following their 42-37 win over England at Twickenham.
Experience will now be at the core of Sunday’s (Monday AEDT) team with thirty-somethings, former captain Will Skelton, powerhouse centre Samu Kerevi, who’ll win his 50th cap, Allan Alaalatoa at prop and halfback Nic White all brought into the starting XV at Principality Stadium.
After all the hoopla surrounding his man-of-the-match performance, Suaalii’s benching felt anti-climactic, but Schmidt was adamant it was the right way to go, with the former Rooster having played the full, draining 80 minutes last week, which hadn’t been the plan until winger Dylan Pietsch got injured.
Former Sydney Roosters star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was a revelation in his Wallabies debut
Despite a man-of-the-match performance, Suaalii has been demoted to the bench for his second game by coach Joe Schmidt
‘It was a whirlwind for Joseph the last two weeks,’ said Schmidt.
‘Anyone who plays all consecutive Tests against the sort of countries that we’re up against here, I do think that’s a big challenge, and particularly playing the full 80 minutes.
‘So for him to just be able to take a breath and watch a bit of the game and then enter the game, I think he’s a great opportunity for us to change it up a bit, if required.’
Wary of the workload for his midfield dynamos, outside centre Suaalii has been replaced at 13 by his inside centre partner at Twickenham, the excellent Len Ikitau, while Kerevi has been drafted in to No.12.
Injuries to Pietsch, Taniela Tupou and captain Harry Wilson’s absence following a concussion forced Schmidt to ring the changes and ‘freshen’ his side, with the Australians hoping to get half-way to their ambition of a ‘grand slam’ of wins against all four of their British Isles’ opponents.
Powerhouse centre Samu Kerevi returns for the Wallabies, relegating Suaalii to the bench
Will Skelton also returns for the Wallabies as troops return for their clash against Wales
Max Jorgensen, whose glorious last-gasp try beat England, takes over from Pietsch on the left wing, while Skelton comes in for another Twickenham try scorer Jeremy Williams, in the second row, with Rob Valetini, also making his 50th appearance, taking Wilson’s No.8 role while Seru Uru gets his first full start at six.
Alaalatoa comes in for Tupou, who still has a knee niggle picked up at the Bledisloe Cup, and will lead a side which Schmidt admits to feeling a little worried about as he seeks to maintain the momentum from the England triumph.
‘I’m concerned, and I’m hopefully confident in that I know the guys coming in will be fully committed to doing the job and connecting with the guys who did the job last week,’ he said.
‘For all those changes to happen, it’s probably not ideal, we wouldn’t have planned it that way, but I think the boys trained well this week. As an indicator of what will hopefully be a positive performance on Sunday, that’s a good start.’
Australia find themselves hot favourites to beat a Welsh side, who are in danger of losing a record 11th straight Test.
