Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii’s poor tackle technique in the 65th minute against the Welsh last week will be something the Wallabies will be trying to nip in the bud before a clash against Sione “no-look pass” Tuipulotu in Edinburgh this weekend.
Tuipulotu twice showed his ability as a canny distributor at the gainline against the Springboks recently – more on that later – and he is one of those players good enough to force opponents into late decisions on defence.
But the Wallabies coaches will likely be more focused on getting Suaalii’s bad habits out of his system as he continues his accelerated development before the British and Irish Lions arrive next year.
Against Wales, he hit flanker Jac Morgan with his arm tucked in, shoulder swinging, and arguably high. Morgan certainly reacted as if he had been hit high, and while he was falling in the tackle of Len Ikitau the replays did appear to show contact with the neck area.
It may seem churlish to point this out given Suaalii’s strong debut against England at Twickenham and the resultant warm and fuzzies sweeping over Australian rugby, but it is our solemn duty to remind everyone that what goes up in sport invariably comes down.
Inevitably, there will be setbacks for Suaalii, and while their nature and timing are unclear, if you were a gambler you’d be punting that they occur in defence.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in action against Wales.Credit: Getty Images
It certainly doesn’t help that Suaalii is such a tall man. The only current midfielder with similar dimensions is Jordie Barrett, who was red-carded for a high shot on Jordan Petaia during Super Rugby and then copped a yellow for another high shot against Ireland two weeks ago.
Irrespective of Suaalii’s NRL background, the fact he is 196cm tall was always going to pose a problem for his defensive work in a position where there are many late changes of angles.
Which brings us to Tuipulotu, the former Melbourne Rebels midfielder who has ended up as Scotland captain thanks to his granny.
As much as they have been talked up, the Scots weren’t that convincing during their 32-15 loss to the Springboks, who themselves put out an error-riddled first half that was well below their normal standards.
Danger man: Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu.Credit: Getty Images
However, Scotland did get some real pay out of Tuipulotu’s well-established combination with midfield partner Huw Jones, and in particular a play that used Tuipulotu’s ability to disguise a pass.
It was Tuipulotu who effectively created a first-half try to Scotland No. 9 Ben White by shaping to hit a runner coming from deep but actually popping a short pass to frontrunner Jones.
This is part of Tuipulotu’s “triple threat” that was identified by Wallabies halfback Nic White earlier in the week. Although he is a powerful ball carrier, that is far from his only weapon, and the Wallabies will have to be on high alert for that play or a variation of it, with Jones running the hard line and wingers such as Duhan van der Merwe providing the deeper option.
To South Africa’s credit, they adapted well after half-time and shut down the move when Tuipulotu tried it again in the second half, but there is no doubt where the danger is coming from for the Wallabies this weekend.
Scotland lean heavily on Tuipulotu and No.10 Finn Russell for their attacking threat. They arguably don’t have the ball carriers to go through the front door a la South Africa or France, or the running game at No.9 to cause damage around the fringes of the ruck, so most of their focus is getting the ball to Russell and Tuipulotu to manipulate the defence.
That likely means a busy day without the ball for Suaalii, and regardless of how that plays out, he will take an enormous amount out of the Test.
Joe Schmidt and co must have noticed something else about South Africa’s win – the amount of space they identified on the edges on attack. Winger Makazole Mapimpi scored two first-half tries from crossfield kicks as the world champions arguably exploited a little bit of inexperience in Scotland fullback Tom Jordan.
Presumably the Scots will return to Blair Kinghorn in the No.15 jersey – which will give them better backfield coverage – but the Springboks were able to manufacture time and space with ease for both Handre Pollard and Willie le Roux and Mapimpi was the ultimate beneficiary.
The in-form Noah Lolesio and Tom Wright will relish those opportunities, and Suaalii will come into his own as an attacking force both with ball in hand and a kick pass target.
Suaalii can be as damaging as he was against England – but he needs to get those arms wrapping in defence.
