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'Freak' - Joseph Suaalii’s spectacular Wallabies debut leaves fans in awe

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of Australia looks on during the Autumn Nations Series 2025 match between England and Australia at Allianz Stadium on November 09, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Joseph Suaalii’s debut for the Wallabies against England at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon left fans and pundits alike in awe –  with social media ablaze with praise for the 21-year-old’s return to rugby union.

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The Wallabies won a thrilling contest 42-37, care of last gasp Max Jorgensen try in the 82nd minute, but it was the performance of their new, 6’5 outside centre that stole the show in the first half. The former Australia schoolboy’s switch from rugby league back to union was one of the most high-profile code-hopping moves in recent memory and he certainly lived up to the hype on his professional debut in the sport.

Despite not having played the 15-a-side game since 2019, Suaalii was hailed as a game-changer in a high-stakes clash in West London. Playing like a mix between Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Folau, the rookie’s offloading game and aerial skills had fans calling him the “real deal” and a “joy to watch”.

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“Joseph Suaalii is the real deal,” wrote Whittaker Walt. “A joy to watch a rising star in the making.” Another fan commented on Suaalii’s ability to stay unflappable under pressure: “Suaalii hasn’t put a foot wrong this entire match. Absolutely going to be a legend.”

Jon Cardinelli wrote “Suaalii has been class on attack… wreaking havoc at kickoffs”.

The young talent brought a level of creativity and flair often seen in the league, with a cheeky no-look pass to set up Tom Wright for Australia’s opening try. As Tom Hamilton from ESPN noted, it was “some introduction from the cross-code star.”

“Suaalii just walking in to be the Wallabies’ best player haha,” wrote Byron, reflecting a sentiment echoed across fans’ posts as Suaalii repeatedly broke the English line with ease. Meanwhile, rugby writer Christy Doran marvelled at his confidence on the ball: “Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii with spiders on him. About four offloads inside 26 minutes.”

Others acknowledged the Wallabies’ investment in Suaalii as worthwhile, with Mana Rugby remarking: “A lot was said about how much Rugby Australia are paying Suaalii, but he’s the best Wallaby on the pitch by a mile. If anything, they should pay him more.”

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The Wallabies’ first-half fightback, spurred in part by Suaalii’s dynamic presence, was praised by Paul Cully, who said, “Great fightback by the Wallabies…and some great injections on attack by Suaalii. Best 40 of the year.”

His impact was perhaps best summarized by former England wing and commentator Topsy Ojo, who captured the mood among fans as he said: “Suaalii living up to the hype! Lovely touches. Australia looking good going direct at England. Need a response.”

It’s been a meteoric rise for the Suaalii, who made his NRL debut at just 17.

His switch back to rugby union started in late August 2022, Rugby Australia (RA) reportedly pursued him with a substantial offer allegedly around A$10 million over five years, though RA Chairman Hamish McLennan called this figure “fanciful.” Suaalii officially signed in March 2023 to join the New South Wales Waratahs and Wallabies starting in 2025, with a contract estimated between A$1.5 and A$1.6 million per year until 2027. Despite criticism from league figures like Peter V’landys, who claimed rugby would be “boring” for the young star, Suaalii’s shift was celebrated in union circles, where he’s compared to cross-code legends like Israel Folau and Sonny Bill Williams.

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Comments

8 Comments
J
JW 11 days ago

NRL players will be watching and weeping at the amount of fun you can have in a game of rugby compared to league. Just so much more room for creativity when your attack doesn't rely on maintaining possession.


Was nice to see that freedom and skill, but he didn't actually contribute near as much to the scoring as what him showing courage at being able to take it to, and be better than, the opposition contributed to the teams performance and victory.

S
SC 11 days ago

Suaalii had a solid game. Great hands. Confused at the English defence which was woeful compared to last week. Holes everywhere.

W
Willie 11 days ago

Where is the Ballymore Bleater now? If you had any dignity OJohn you would leave this platform for good and kick the Vicar's cat.

H
Hellhound 11 days ago

JS and MJ. 2 new stars for the Wallabies and what a game for them. I expected the English to win by a mile, but well done Wallabies. SH teams is rocking and pitching up. I guess the NH still have a way to go. If the weak Aussies is getting in shots, watch out!

p
pbw_sg 11 days ago

Huge miss by the referee of the knock on before England’s last try. They should not have been in the lead at all — what’s the point of referees if they don’t cover the basics.

B
Bull Shark 11 days ago

100%. I thought Ben had a shocker. England going off their feet in the rucks. England lucky not to have conceded more penalties.

B
BH 11 days ago

Well played Aussies, never gave up deserved victory.

Sua'al'ii is an extraordinary talent and will only get better his offloads were next level.

Borthwick and Co have some serious questions to answer with SA next up i fear we will get stuffed.


Rather nonplussed Englishman.

T
Tim 11 days ago

Watched the match on Hamburg. The commentator said Sua'ali'i was playing in cheat mode. Outstanding debut.

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JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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