Gatland's complimentary view on Suaalii
SPOTLIGHT: Wales head coach Warren Gatland believes ‘the game needs superstars’ as his struggling outfit prepare to face Wallaby wonder Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii on Sunday.
The 21-year-old centre marked his debut in professional rugby union with a player-of-the-match performance during the Wallabies’ dramatic last-minute 42-37 win over England at Twickenham on Saturday.
That performance came less than a month following his multi-million dollar switch from rugby league – producing a superb one-handed pass that set Wallaby fullback Tom Wright up for Australia’s opening try.
Labelled as an ‘aerial freak’ by Wallaby head coach Joe Schmidt, the head coach will hope for more of the same in Cardiff as the Wallabies look to inflict a record 11th straight loss upong Wales by all opponents.
“I think the impressive thing about him was his offloading game – just being able to get the ball away,” said Gatland.
“He didn’t get a lot of opportunities with the ball in hand from an attacking perspective but it was just being able to get the ball he got away over the top for a try and not die with the ball.”
The veteran New Zealander added: “I thought he fitted in pretty well for someone to be thrown into his first professional game at international level at Twickenham.
“I think the game needs people like that. The game needs superstars. For him to be named player-of-the-match as well, and to create that hype.
“We all know and are pretty aware that rugby in Australia needs a boost. And hopefully for him, that is the kind of boost that he may provide, particularly in Sydney with the Swans being involved in the AFL [Australian Rules] Final.”
Wales face Australia following a 19-24 defeat to Fiji at the Millennium Stadium last weekend, a loss that left them without a Test win since beating Georgia in a 2023 World Cup pool match over a year ago.
