Australia confident about untested Suaalii after code switch

LONDON :Australia coach Joe Schmidt is confident Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will make an impact when he plays his first senior rugby union match against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Suaalii has switched from rugby league and signed for the New South Wales Waratahs for next season, but been drafted straight into the Australia team without playing professional rugby union before, although he was a schoolboy international.
But Schmidt was upbeat that the 21-year-old would fit right into the team, selected alongside Len Ikitau in the midfield.
“We have confidence he will adapt very well,” Schmidt told a press conference on Thursday.
Suaalii’s debut will come 10 days after his contract with Rugby Australia began on Nov. 1 but he has been training with the team for several weeks and Schmidt felt it was a good opportunity to let him play.
“Particularly with Hunter Paisami injured and Samu Kerevi coming into the squad late,” he said.
“The thing that gives me confidence around Joseph is how well he prepares himself. He’s a very professional young man and hopefully he can hit the ground running in a couple of days’ time,” the coach added.
“Everything’s a risk, but I would challenge that with ‘everything’s an opportunity’, and it’s a fantastic opportunity for a young man who’s really excited about getting the chance.
“There are four test matches left this year before we embark on a massive Lions’ tour next year. So if not now, when? I think it makes some sense for him to play. It’s unlikely it’ll go perfectly, but it will be a benchmark that he can build from.”
Schmidt has been looking at a host of new players this year in order to build a team to take on the Lions next year.
“I think Joseph is our 17th or 18th debutant this year so it’s not a new situation for us to have a debutant. In fact, it’s the most common situation that we’ve had this year.
“In an effort to build depth and an effort to stabilise the group that we have, we see it as an opportunity more than as a risk and he’s been excellent, which gives us confidence not to wait another week or two or even next year,” he added.
England captain Jamie George said they did not know much about Suaalii but were preparing to give him a strong welcome to the international game.
“Joe Schmidt is someone that I’ve been a massive fan of, I respect hugely in terms of his understanding and knowledge and I know that if he wasn’t ready to play, then he wouldn’t be playing,” George said.
“So that’s something that we’ve got to be very aware of. There’s this element of the unknown. But at the same time we’ve got to make sure we’re as clued up as we possibly can be.
“And we also need to make sure that he knows what test match rugby is all about.”
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town, Mitch Phillips; Editing by Ken Ferris and Toby Davis)