- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii could play against Ireland
- Early fears were that the 21-year-old center had broken his wrist.
- Signed $5m contract in 2023 to defect from NRL
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii could be in the Wallabies squad to play against Ireland in the final match of their tour of the UK this weekend after recovering from a broken wrist.
Suaalii, 21, who signed the most lucrative contract in Australian rugby history, was left injured after dealing a huge blow to Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu, the Melbourne-born former Wallaby junior who was inspirational in his team’s victory by 27-13 that stopped both matches for Australia. -game winning streak.
Amid serious concerns about Suaalii’s wrist after coming off the field in Edinburgh, coach Joe Schmidt attempted to play down fears of a more serious injury and subsequent tests returned encouraging news.
“After making a tackle, Joseph Suaalii lost function and experienced severe pain in his right arm and was substituted,” read a statement from the Wallabies team.
‘Since full time and after traveling with the team to Ireland, his function is returning and the pain is decreasing.
“He was medically reviewed after the match and there is no evidence of a fracture and he will be monitored throughout the week.”
Suaalii’s first-half loss in Edinburgh proved pivotal in the defeat that ended the Wallabies’ chances of winning the Grand Slam for the first time since 1984.
In more positive news, safety Jeremy Williams also traveled with the team and is recovering from an illness that kept him out of the defeat to Scotland.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii could be in the Wallabies squad to play against Ireland in the final match of the UK tour this weekend after he was cleared of a broken wrist.
The 21-year-old was injured in Australia’s disappointing opening defeat against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Suaalii impressed for Wallabies on Spring Tour after defecting from NRL
Meanwhile, coach Joe Schmidt is hoping for a response against the Irish after his team missed 34 tackles and conceded 14 penalties at Murrayfield.
‘“I felt like they still put in a really good performance against a really good team,” he said.
‘And I always said from the beginning that there will be days when things don’t go as well as you want them to.
‘They’re not excuses, they’re just reasons why we were a little off.
“Hopefully people can still see that there is some quality starting to be built through an Australian team that is actually starting to show a bit of depth, albeit with some pretty inexperienced players.”
Schmidt was also head coach of Ireland between 2013 and 2019.
Kick-off in Dublin will be at 2:10am AEDT on Sunday 1 December.