Joseph Sua’ali’i, Australian rugby’s expensive gamble, is fast-tracked for debut against England

Time is of the essence for the purported savior of Australian rugby.

There’ll be no easing in 21-year-old Joseph Sua’ali’i after his expensive, much-hyped switch to the 15-man code.

Less than a month after hopping over from rugby league, Sua’ali’i will be lining up at Twickenham, one of rugby’s storied stadiums, against England, one of the world’s top teams, on Saturday.

Talk about a baptism of fire for someone who has never played a senior game of rugby.

“If not now, when?” Australia coach Joe Schmidt proffered.

The end-of-season European tour, which starts against England and includes further test matches against Wales, Scotland and Ireland, provides Australia with its final games before the visit of the British and Irish Lions for a tour starting in June next year.

Schmidt felt like he had no choice but to throw in Sua’ali’i.

After all, Sua’ali’i is richly talented, is full of self-belief and is someone Rugby Australia, which is hardly flush with cash, is betting the house on after handing him a contract worth 5.3 million Australian dollars ($3.5 million) for three years to the 2027 Rugby World Cup. It all comes in a tough period for an ailing rugby giant languishing at No. 9 in the world rankings.

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No wonder Sua’ali’i is all the rage at the moment.

“We don’t do press conferences about the team anymore. We do them around Joseph,” Schmidt said.

“It’s unusual,” Schmidt added about the player’s fast-tracking, “but we have a very limited time frame. We have these four weeks, then six months where they go back to Super Rugby teams and you get a couple of weeks before a massive Lions test that the whole country, certainly the rugby community in Australia, is excited about. We need to plan for that.”

Sua’ali’i, a strapping, skilful and fast runner, will play at outside center against an England team coming off a frustrating 24-22 loss to New Zealand last weekend.

He last played in the 15-man code as a winger, for Australian Schoolboys in a victory over New Zealand in 2019 when he was alongside current Wallaby Josh Flook. He was also a teammate of Australia captain Angus Bell. Since then, Sua’ali’i has become a star in rugby league, playing for Samoa when it reached the World Cup final in 2022, for Sydney Roosters in the NRL and also in the State of Origin.

Schmidt has been around Sua’ali’i for the past couple of weeks and describes him as a “very professional young man.”

“He is meticulous with his planning before he even gets to his preparation,” Schmidt said. “He asks a lot of questions — most guys who come in are relatively shy. He is a very humble young man but he is forthright about his preparation.”

Helping Sua’ali’i to get his chance is that centers Hunter Paisami and Flook are unavailable for Australia’s first test match since a 33-13 loss to the All Blacks in Wellington in the Rugby Championship. That was one of five losses in six games in that competition for the Wallabies.

England’s recent record isn’t much better, having lost five of its last seven tests dating to late February. The last three defeats have all come against the All Blacks, with England throwing away final-quarter leads on each occasion and losing by a combined total of 10 points.

“We can’t be making excuses. As players we have to step up and be more consistent,” England flanker Tom Curry said.

“We won’t make promises, but we’ve not been good enough. In the last quarter we as players definitely have to stand up. It’s about the full 80 minutes.

England coach Steve Borthwick selected an unchanged team for Saturday’s game.

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Teams:

England: George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer; Ben Earl, Tom Curry, Chandler Cunningham-South, George Martin, Maro Itoje, Will Stuart, Jamie George (captain), Ellis Genge. Reserves: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Ollie Sleightholme.

Australia: Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch, Noah Lolesio, Jake Gordon; Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Nick Frost, Taniela Tupou, Matt Faessler, Angus Bell (captain). Reserves: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Max Jorgensen.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby