'We've been dying for it': The Aussie rugby wheel is turning
SPOTLIGHT: Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii can feel the Australian rugby wheel turning after the Wallabies’ AUS$5 million code-hopper’s first Test double delivered the rebuilding side’s latest statement.
But the 22-year-old has declared they’re just getting started with eight Tests still to play this year.
Victory in Sydney’s rematch this Saturday would give the Wallabies a look at their first Rugby Championship title in 10 years and cement their spot inside the world’s top-six ahead of December’s World Cup draw.
The hosts came from 7-21 down at half-time, and 21-24 behind in the 79th minute, to win with a try six minutes into injury time.
Flyhalf Tom Lynagh, returning from concussion, suffered another and will not feature in Sydney or potentially the first Bledisloe Cup Test later this month.
Skipper Harry Wilson turned down kicks for a potential match-tying penalty three times after the full-time hooter had sounded to instead risk defeat in search of the match-winning try.
That eventually came through influential replacement prop Angus Bell.
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“Harry … we all look to him to make the calls when the pressure’s on and he made the right call, backed his boys,” Suaalii said.
“I want to play for him.
“And Belly, his love for the game and Australian rugby … comes off the bench and just changed the game for us.
“If there was someone I wanted to score the try, it’d be him.”
Suaalii’s centre partner Len Ikitau was man of the match in the pair’s ninth-consecutive game as midfield partners.
And it was Suaalii’s 11th Test since his eye-catching debut against England in Australia’s Twickenham heist last November.
Since then the Wallabies have pushed the British and Irish Lions in a pulsating three-Test series and came from 0-22 down to beat South Africa at Ellis Park for the first time in 62 years.
Saturday’s win against a touring side fresh off victory against the All Blacks was another chapter for the Suaalii scrapbook.
Australia’s trajectory has soared since the 2023 World Cup wipe-out and Suaalii’s rich three-year deal was inked a year later.
“As a kid, you dream about these days,” he said.
“Twickenham, Johannesburg and even this Argentina game … they’re memories you never forget.
“We’re growing and building and there’s a lot we want to take from this game we want to build on.
“We’re not happy where we are at the moment.”
More than 20,000 packed into the North Queensland Stadium and Wilson credited their cries for helping him make the brave call to chase victory.
“You feel it from media, people sending letters, the crowd; we feel that from all different angles,” Suaalii said of the growing public sentiment.
“These special moments … there’s momentum and a shift in Australian rugby.
“We’ve been dying for it for a while and I believe it’s starting to go on the right track.”
