In at the deep end. There’s no other way to describe Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s debut in the No.13 jersey against England at Twickenham.
But how will he perform in the midfield? It certainly won’t be a referendum on his natural attributes – everyone saw what an athlete he is when he got to the edge in the NRL.
Instead, it will depend on how quickly he can adapt to five rugby-specific demands, many of which league players don’t even have to think about.
Tackle height
Having made the switch from NRL in 2022, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck did a number of things very well on his Super Rugby debut for the Blues. He was physical with the ball in hand and used his footwork to good effect.
But in the last seconds, he got too upright in the tackle and was brushed off by the Hurricanes’ Bailyn Sullivan, who then beat him on the outside to set up the matchwinning try for Ardie Savea.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck impressed on his Super Rugby debut, but his weaknesses were also apparent.Credit: Getty
Joe Schmidt will remember this all too well – he was in Blues’ coaching box on that day in Dunedin.
Suaalii is unusually tall for a midfielder and won’t be able to get low in every tackle, especially against stocky England midfielder Ollie Lawrence. But if he falls into the NRL practice of standing upright in contact, England will expose him with some lateral movement. And old habits die hard, especially under fatigue.
Defensive alignment
There has been some talk about Suaalii defending in the No.12 channel instead of No.13, but there’s no real hiding place in Test rugby.
Good players will manipulate even small misreads, and if you break down the modern game, the No.12 is asked to do as much as the No.13 – if not more at times.
Joseph Suaalii training with the Wallabies in London ahead of his debut.Credit: Getty Images
For example, when the Wallabies were defending an All Blacks midfield scrum in Wellington in September, they split midfielders Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau either side (like all teams). In other words, there’s no way of making a Test midfielder exempt from having to make reads.
Similarly, if the ball is turned over, all bets are off. Suaalii could easily find himself on the outside channel trying to coordinate the cover defence with a winger.
And, as the Wallabies typically move Noah Lolesio out of the line on first-phase defence in their own territory, the responsibility of defending the inside channels against hard carries falls to either blindside winger, or the No.12, or both.
Kicking
Suaalii hasn’t been picked to kick the ball away, but any midfielder who doesn’t have the option in their locker is incomplete.
Paisami and Ikitau can both kick the ball, sometimes to great effect, and if Suaalii doesn’t have enough variety off the boot there’s no guarantee he will keep his place in the starting line-up for the rest of the tour, especially when Paisami (paternity duties) and Samu Kerevi (match fitness) come back into the picture.
One of the best kicks in recent times came from a No.13 – Jesse Kriel to Cheslin Kolbe for a Springboks try against France in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final last year. Multidimensional players have become the norm.
The connection to Tom Wright
Suaallii is fortunate to have Ikitau in the No.12 jersey – he’s a smart footballer, one of the best in Australia, and Ikitau’s game awareness and ability to set up others should get Suaalii into the game.
But the other key player for Suaalii will be fullback Tom Wright. The Wallabies like to use a shape where Wright sits behind a wider pod of forwards as the team’s second playmaker. It’s how they attacked the All Blacks from restarts in Wellington.
Suaalii will be the man outside Wright’s shoulder, and if they get this right it’s one way they can really get him into the sort of space that everyone wants to see.
But, of course, Ikitau and Wright are helped by that Brumbies familiarity. Being on the same wavelength comes relatively easy to them, and Suaallii needs to find it quickly.
The breakdown
Where do you start? On defence there will be times when Suaalii needs to just put his head over the ball and try to spoil England’s possession, and on attack he’ll likely be needed as a quick and accurate “cleaner” if Ikitau is trucking it up from first phase.
But the area that most often trips up newcomers is getting turned over post-tackle with ball in hand. That’s a mix of losing connection with your support players, even if the carry is decent, and a lack of accuracy with ball presentation.
Suaalii’s training sessions must have been exceptional, because the task ahead of him at Twickenham is daunting.
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