Scotland have flagged their intention to exploit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s lack of rugby experience by targeting his defence at Murrayfield on Monday morning.
The two-Test recruit is set to be recalled to the Wallabies’ starting side to meet the Scots, following the suspension of Samu Kerevi. After a successful outing against England at Twickenham, Suaalii and in-form centre Len Ikitau will re-united in the midfield.
Coach Joe Schmidt names his side on Saturday morning (AEDT) and Jake Gordon is also expected to return at halfback after recovering from a head cut, and winger Harry Potter could be in line for a Test debut, with Dylan Pietsch having left the tour due to a calf injury.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend was impressed with Suaalii’s debut in London but rival no.13 Huw Jones gave strong clues the Scots have also strategised how to expose the NRL convert in defence.
The defensive reads of rugby league converts are often targeted by rugby union coaches, and though England didn’t effectively isolate Suaalii, stats sheets still show the 21-year-old still missed four of eight attempted tackles at Twickenham. He has been working hard at training at tackling lower, too, given the greater tolerance for high contact in league.
Ollie Lawrence of England gets away from Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii at Twickenham.Credit: Getty Images
Asked if the Scots saw an opportunity in targeting Suaalii in defence, given it is only his third game in senior rugby, Jones said: “There is that. He obviously has threats of his own, on both sides of the ball. But yeah, with our attack, we are always looking for a chink in the armour and opportunities where we can exploit them. So yeah … it could be an option.”
Jones answered with a small smile, and also confirmed no.13 was one of the hardest positions to defend.
“It is tough, you have guys running different angles, often you’ve got those block plays with someone running down your inside shoulder and you can see movement out the back,” Jones said.
Scotland centre Huw Jones runs in a try against Fiji earlier in the month. Credit: Getty Images
“You have to make a split-second decision a lot the time. It can be a difficult place to defend, especially if you’re not used to defending there.”
Jones, a 52-cap centre who grew up in England and also played for the Stormers in Super Rugby, said he was excited for the clash against the Wallabies given the two teams both like to play an open style of rugby.
“They have been really good (on tour) – they’ve scored a lot of tries,” Jones said. “They’ve got threats everywhere really, you see the way their forwards have been carrying and see what their backs are doing. It is an exciting challenge. Hopefully, weather-dependant, it will be an open game.”
The full potential of Suaalii is yet to be seen in rugby, even after his strong debut in London. The 21-year-old came off the bench for 19 minutes against Wales and had several nice involvements, but didn’t add to his highlight reel.
Wallabies no.10 Noah Lolesio said he believed Suaalii has only just started showing his ability in rugby.
“I have just been super-impressed with how professional he is, first of all,” Lolesio told this masthead.
“He is a great person, I get along with him very well and obviously the whole world saw how he debuted against England. And he is only going to keep getting better, game by game. This is just the start of an awesome journey for Joey’s rugby career. Not just as a teammate, but as a fan of Australian rugby, that’s exciting.”
The luxury for Schmidt is having Lolesio finding great confidence and form on the tour, and particularly having Ikitau alongside Suaalii.
Ikitau is not just as a versatile centre who is in career-best form, the 26-year-old is also serving as a valuable in-game coach for Suaalii, too.
“Everyone is surprised like ‘where has Lenny come from?’ But I have seen this for years,” Lolesio said.
“There is no surprise there at all. He is one of my best mates off the field as well. I am just so happy for him. My job is to get the ball to him and Joey, as much as I can, and just support them. Because I know if they get a one-on-one they’re likely going to break that tackle.
“They both want the ball, they both let me know about it all the time. It’s awesome, Lenny is playing some career-best footy at the moment.”
