Joe Schmidt explains Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s selection in Wallabies

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt spent more than 14 minutes talking about marquee recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii on Tuesday afternoon. There were about 11 questions asked about Suaalii’s headline-grabbing inclusion in Australia’s 34-man squad for the Spring Tour.

About 30 minutes earlier, the Wallabies and Australia XV’s squads for the respective upcoming tours were announced to the public. Of the 64 names that were listed, it was nigh on impossible to look past Suaalii, Samu Kerevi and Will Skelton within the Wallabies’ setup.

Kerevi and Skelton were both part of Eddie Jones’ squad that went to the Rugby World Cup last year, with Skelton captaining Australia against Georgia. But, the talk of the town was very much Suaalii, with the former Sydney Roosters flyer getting the nod after just two training sessions.

Suaalii joined the best from the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies in a two-day training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra last week. Those sessions were all coach Schmidt needed to see from rugby’s big money signing, who could debut in Wallaby gold next month.

“Having had a couple of discussions with Joseph, having had him in the hub in Canberra last week, he’s a kid who works hard on his game and is very quick to pick things up,” Schmidt told reporters at Rugby Australia’s headquarters.

“I think the other part of it is that we just want to make sure that we give him the best runway possible to try to get involved in the Wallabies.

“He could’ve gone with (Rod) Seiby, and we would’ve been pretty comfortable with that and we talked about that as an option to get a little bit of game time before stepping up to the Wallabies.

“While there’ll be quite a bit of continuity between the two teams, just being in an environment where we get to know him as well is what we felt was probably the most beneficial for us and hopefully for Joseph and the team.”

Coach Schmidt has answered hundreds of questions this year with detailed responses that require thought and a deep understanding of the sport. Even when the Wallabies fell to their fifth defeat in six Tests during The Rugby Championship, Schmidt gave in-depth answers.

But, on one occasion during the 14-minute deep dive into Suaalii’s selection in the Wallabies, Schmidt did answer one question with a single word. “No,” Schmidt said about three times when asked if there was external pressure to select the former rugby league star.

Schmidt made it clear the Wallabies wouldn’t have picked Suaalii if the 21-year-old wasn’t good enough, although time will tell as to whether he’s “ready.” But, the coach did reveal it’s “more likely” Suaalii will debut for the Wallabies rather than drop back to the Australia XV squad at some stage.

The coaches have opted to throw Suaalii into the deep end over the coming weeks.

“We’re not sure he’s ready but the way to find that out is to have him in camp and to get to know him a bit further, even though we’ve only had two trainings with him,” Schmidt explained.

“I’ve seen enough of him play as a rugby league player in the midfield there and have got really good feedback from other players about him when he was in the schools (rugby union) system, the under-18s system. A lot of the players, the likes of Angus Bell, Josh Flook, those guys, they speak highly of him.

“I’m getting to know him, the coaches are getting to know him, and that’ll be a process maybe that might take a couple of weeks. But, at least we give ourselves a chance of finding out a little bit about him.”

The story that came out of Suaalii’s initial exposure to professional rugby union with that two-day camp in Canberra was a big one. Suaalii is on a lucrative multi-year deal, but it still remains unknown as to what position the towering backline utility should play.

Playmaker Tane Edmed – who has since been named as one of three potential debutants in the Wallabies along with Suaalii and Harry Potter – didn’t have an answer for reporters in the capital, and neither does coach Schmidt at this stage.

“That’s a good question because we’re not absolutely sure ourselves.

“I know at school he played fullback and wing and in the centres. I think he played wing for the Australian Under-18s when I think Josh Flook might’ve been the captain of that team.

“There’s a bit of flexibility around where he best fits in as well.”