On a bright sunny day last Monday at the Irish team base in Dublin, one of the longest shadows cast over Irish rugby’s High Performance Centre was of the man located 22km away in the Radisson Blu hotel in South Dublin, Joe Schmidt.
What training ground trick would he add to the Australian attack, how would his line-up look, would he mind-read Ireland and would he programme his players to exploit the individual weaknesses unearthed during his nine years coaching Leinster and the Irish side?
More questions than answers. But there is one thing Schmidt is sure to use against Ireland on Saturday if he can. Far from a “secret weapon” or a never-seen-before play, it is the AU$5 million (€3 million) cross-code recruit, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who signed the most lucrative contract in Australian rugby history, playing in the centre.
Suaalii will give Ireland plenty to think about if he is fit enough to take the field. Last weekend he did not come out on top after a collision with Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu, and when he left the pitch clutching what looked like a badly damaged wrist, it seemed Schmidt had lost one of his inspirational figures.
Updates in recent days on progress, however, ruled out a fracture. The clear message was that Suaalii was pushing for inclusion to play against Ireland. Wonder kid to wonder recovery, the language around Australia’s latest star has been overblown and super heroic. It is not difficult to see why.
So exceptional was he as a teenager, the player Schmidt called “an aerial freak”, that in 2021 he was granted an exemption to play in the National Rugby League for the Sydney Roosters before his 18th birthday, prompting a debate about the long-term welfare of adolescent players competing against men more than 10 years older.
Of course, in a previous era, a player pivotal to Irish rugby made his first-team league debut for his hometown club Wigan at the age of 16. His name was Andy Farrell.
More recently, in his debut union match against England, Suaalii arrived at Twickenham not having played a single game of senior club rugby. The selection had an element of the absurd.
The 21-year-old had not been involved in the code for five years since his rugby union school days, but after 80 minutes of action he came away from the London venue with the Player of the Match award, not least for his adept fielding of high balls and offloading.
“I have come in, I am 21 and I just feel I’m being myself,” he said after the match. The Schmidt gambit had paid off.
Of course, Schmidt had done his homework on Suaalii before selecting him and would have known that there was more to him than towering ability and confidence. After several years playing professional league, Suaalii has learned the importance of being diligent and professional.
Knowing there are subtleties he needs to learn to become a more proficient centre, he carries a work ethic as part of the package. Backing up the talent with other foundational requirements dovetails perfectly with the coach’s way of thinking.
That came across when Schmidt lived in Ireland, and this week “detail” was the world that Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell mentioned most when describing him.
James Ryan had high praise for the man now in charge of Australia. “I would say he was a big influence for me and my own career,” he said. “I learned a lot, about how to prepare, how to be a player and how to perform at the top level consistently.”
Ryan was also a kind of latter-day Suaalii in that he bypassed the regular career path to an international shirt, as Schmidt plucked him from the Leinster Academy and put him into the Irish team. Ryan lined out for a Munster development side against the Ireland under-20 team in Thomond Park on his way back from a hamstring injury before the 2017 summer tour to USA and Japan.
The Irish lock had not played a game for Leinster when Schmidt selected him for his first cap against the USA. “Joe was huge ... Joe gave me first opportunity,” said Ryan.
In the mould of former All Black Sonny Bill Williams and World Cup-winning Leinster lock RG Snyman, Suaalii’s offloading game and awareness of players around him was one of the pieces against England that captured attention and added another dimension to the physicality and athleticism.
Australia’s first try came from Suaalii’s popped pass over the head of approaching England fullback George Furbank. His throw to Tom Wright charging up the left was the first step back into a match that Australia ultimately won 42-37.
As Suaalii arced the ball with his right hand over his and Furbank’s head, the match commentary caught the mood perfectly. “A glorious view of Australia’s future,” said the commentator.
Questions about his defensive frailty at outside centre and his reading of opposition attack lines are fair, and teams may look on that as an area where Australian are exposed as he learns the nuances of defending the outside channels.
Against England Suaalii thrived when demonstrating his innate ball-playing ability, which he used to telling effect. He successfully challenged four restarts, offloaded four times and played a central role in the break assist with Wright scoring his try.
Ireland this week, if he is fit, and a Lions tour to Australia next summer will be exacting testing grounds for the exciting code breaker. Suaalii has arrived. From now, it will be about how much better he can become.
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