Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii exactly where he needs to be as Wallabies beat England

In Wallabies camp this week, someone might have to take Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to one side and explain something to him.

“It’s not always going to be like that,” this well-meaning confidant might say to the 21-year-old.

That much should be obvious.

After all, this is a Wallabies team that came into this contest having won just once in the Rugby Championship, a team humiliated at the World Cup in France and embarrassed in Santa Fe.

This is an England team that, despite having won 10 of their past 11 matches against the Wallabies coming into the contest, has now lost five of its past six internationals and surrendered leads to lose its past four, a successive run of defeats it has not experienced since 2018.

But Suaalii gives every impression that he is mature enough to know that.

Indeed, in his first post-match interview as a newly-capped Wallaby, a man barely out of his teens who has already achieved so much, looked as assured as any global statesman.

This was only the start of Suaalii’s Wallabies story but, as far as debuts go, it would be hard for anyone not to be carried away by the Wallabies’ thrilling, last-gasp victory over England at Twickenham.

Sure, Suaalii impressed, but there were stars all over the pitch for the Wallabies.

Tom Wright was simply magnificent at fullback, his blistering, adventurous runs and safety under the high ball did more than anyone to help propel the Wallabies to a victory most thought would be unlikely.

Noah Lolesio was just as nerveless at 10, Tate McDermott showed all of his class in setting up Harry Wilson’s score, while Rob Valetini was colossal in the loose.

Then there’s Len Ikitau, who, despite his highly-fancied partner hogging all the pre- and post-match limelight, was arguably still the centre of attention in the Wallabies midfield and, impressively, Suaalii knew it, racing to celebrate with his centre partner after his outrageous flick set up Max Jorgensen’s magnificent final act to what had been an enthralling show.

All those and more could have been named player of the match, but instead the officials plumbed for Suaalii.

No doubt a part of that was down to the extraordinary amount of pressure Suaalii was under for one so young on debut.

An enormous price tag coupled with a degree of hype that a sport struggling for cut through in Australia has latched upon with all the enthusiasm of Harry Wilson diving on a loose ball.

It was, unquestionably, the most anticipated Wallabies debut since Israel Folau made his bow in 2013 against the British and Irish Lions (scoring the first two of his 37 international tries in the process). 

And, as plenty close to Suaalii expected, the former Roosters man took it all in his stride.

There was only a minor betrayal that anything unusual was happening at all during the pre-game, when Suaalii finally walked onto the Twickenham turf, crouched down and looked around at the towering stands, packed full with 82,000 supporters.

A sly grin escaped onto the youngsters face, a little sneaky acceptance of the task that he was about to undertake, an acknowledgement that he was where he has always wanted to be.

“It’s a funny story, back in 2003, Samoa and England played, my old man took me there, I was only a couple of months old and my dad loves rugby that much. To play against England today, at Twickenham, just amazing,” Suaalii told Stan Sport after the match.

“Putting the Wallabies jersey on, it was a very special moment for my family and I.

The stats may not, immediately, seem that impressive.

Six carries for just five metres, three offloads and a try assist — it might be comparing apples and oranges perhaps, but his final NRL appearance for the Roosters saw him run 15 times for 155 metres for a try assist.

But there was so much more to his performance than just numbers.

Joe Schimdt admitted pre-game that throwing Suaalii in at centre was a risk.

But it was a risk that paid off and, even accounting for the desperately small sample size of a single match against a team that can’t hang onto a lead for love nor money these days, it appears to be one that has helped galvanise the Wallabies into being able to play to their ability for a full 80 minutes — and then some.

Suaalii’s leadership and on-field charisma shines through even on camera, players lifting around him as he throws himself from ruck to ruck, stoppage to stoppage.

“That just came naturally,” Suaalii said when asked how he settled so quickly.

“Just playing footy. Get my hand on the ball, get in the ruck, just get involved early.”

Suaalii speaks and acts like a leader.

“I’m just being myself,” he says, but that in itself is inspiring to those around him.

His 198-cm frame makes him an ideal target from kick offs and he was utilised in that regard at almost every one of those restarts, tapping the ball back to the Wallabies advantage in scenes impressively reminiscent of Israel Folau.

For now, defence position remains an understandable question —Suaalii was perhaps caught out by Marcus Smith’s magnificence on a couple of occasions, but he will not be alone in having an error shown up by England’s magical Harlequin.

Folau had suggested prior to this tour that Suaalii would do better playing at fullback and, with tests against Ireland and Scotland to come, perhaps that might be an option worth exploring, or even let him loose on the wing. 

“There’s a lot of things I need to work on from this game,” Suaalii said.

“I just stuck to the process, just playing footy. I’ve been playing footy since I was four years old. My teammates, they played their role and helped me big time, even throughout the game.”

Of course, our hypothetical confidant would do well to whisper in the ears of Australian rugby fans that this is only one game, one performance, one moment in a career that Rugby Australia hopes will bring many, many more.

That confidant might even start to play devil’s advocate, suggesting a player of his talent will not be sated unless the Wallabies can continue this upward trajectory.

But don’t let Suaalii’s birth date fool you into thinking he’s a raw, impressionable, Gen Z-er, flip flopping between codes with an airy lack of commitment to either.

Suaalii is exactly where the Wallabies need him to be.

It is to their immense fortune, that it’s where he wants to be too.