Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii played four Tests in front of full houses on his return to the 15-man game last November, but the new face of Australian rugby says he found his Super Rugby debut more intense.
“I reckon the intensity, it was more here – that’s Super Rugby,” Suaalii told reporters following the Waratahs’ last-minute win over the Highlanders on Friday.
“If I’m being quite honest, I was talking to [Waratahs captain] Jake Gordon about it; just the ball in play, the contact and the boys were ready to play today, the Highlanders boys.
“I got hit a couple of times. It was good. It’s a high level of footy we’re playing here, especially against those Kiwi boys … I’m just glad we got the win.”
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii says his Super Rugby debut was more intense than his international debut against England at Twickenham. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Suaalii’s comments will be music to the ears of new Super Rugby boss Jack Mesley, who, after years of taking hits, has been desperately trying to sell the competition’s value since being appointed midway through last year.
But after arguably the best opening round in the competition’s history, where every match went down to the wire, there’s hope that the tide might be turning in the fallen Super Rugby competition.
It also is another friendly reminder to the Southern Hemisphere’s northern rivals, who continually beat the drum of the cashed-up competitions in the north and the Six Nations despite England being the only nation outside of the Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies to win a World Cup.
Suaalii’s arrival in Super Rugby has brought with it the same excitement that arrived when Israel Folau burst on the scene in 2013.
The 21-year-old was by no means faultless during the Waratahs’ 37-36 win.
Indeed, Suaalii failed to hold onto a couple of up-and-unders and clocked off late in the match when the Highlanders played on quickly from a lineout and scored.
But Suaalii also started the season-opener in subline fashion, taking an early high kick and played a huge role in two tries, including a superb counter-attacking movement on the stroke of half-time and in the lead up to Max Jorgensen’s important try mid-way through the second half.
“There were a couple of times when I was out of position, but other than that, I actually enjoyed being able to see the game from 15 [fullback], and just being able to scan and see from a different perspective from centre,” said Suaalii, who was forced off after 67 minutes due to cramp. “But obviously, there a lot of things to work on.
“It’s more running compared to centre, where you’re tackling a little bit more. So, yeah it was a lot of high-speed running, so I still need to get the Ks [kilometres] into my legs.”
Just whether he stays at fullback remains to be seen, but one person not sweating about his role was new coach Dan McKellar.
“I thought he was good, you’d like to see the ball in his hands more, he got into space a couple of times and looked dangerous, didn’t he?” McKellar said.
“So that’ll come, the more he learns his role within our attack.
“Everyone’s talking about is he a 13, is he a 15, is he a winger, the number is a number on your back in how we attack, so that will come, as it will come for Jorgo and Kels and others as well, but I thought overall like his effort and positional play at fullback was mostly pretty good.”
Dan McKellar says he was happy with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s first-up performance for the Waratahs. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
As expected, the Waratahs were patchy on a greasy night in their season-opener.
With a brand new coaching team and several new recruits, including Wallabies Taniela Tupou and Rob Leota, the Waratahs were never going to be perfect but their first-up win was just what was needed after collecting the wooden spoon last year.
But more than anything else, McKellar will have been thrilled with his side’s character and poise as they sealed a late win thanks to a late double to former Force tight-head Siosifa Amone.
“Obviously there was some patches in the second half where we just clocked off, like that try off the quick lineout, that’s just purely unacceptable at this level so we’ll knock that on the head really quick,” McKellar said.
“I thought our kicking game certainly put them under pressure and we’ll be better for it. We used Joseph well in that area and he had a really good contribution there and again he’ll be better for that as well.”
Siosifa Amone celebrates after scoring the match-winning try against the Highlanders at Allianz Stadium on February 14, 2025. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Although Suaalii was the headline act, the evening belonged to rising prop Amone, who lost almost 20 kilograms in pre-season and came off the bench to score the match-winner.
“Speaking on Sifa, that was his moment,” Suaalii said. “He’s been working hard since September last year. I think he came in overweight [to pre-season]. He was pretty heavy, and he just worked every single day.
“You know that energy he brings towards a group, so it was good just to see someone like Sifa in our group, who is so vital to our group, score two tries and win us a game, so it was a special moment for our group.”
The Waratahs have a bye next weekend, before hosting the Fiji Drua in Sydney on Friday, February 28.
Christy Doranhttps://https://ift.tt/QFA3Up1 than Test footy: Suaalii’s extraordinary Super Rugby claim after thrilling win
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