Kevin Sinfield has been giving England a leg up on Australia’s latest talent with the Wallabies ready to unveil their covert star at today’s Twickenham showdown.
Rugby league phenom Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who has yet to make his mark in senior professional union, is set for his Test debut – a move by Wallaby coach Joe Schmidt that’s raising eyebrows.
The youngster, poached from NRL team Sydney Roosters in a deal worth £2.6million, heads into the game with minimal 15-a-side experience, as his last union match was with Australia’s under-18s. This leaves scant video resources for England’s strategy crew.
Rugby icon Sinfield has been diligently reviewing whatever clips there are of Suaalii, aiming to decode his gameplay as England looks to continue their dominion over Australia, seeking an eleventh victory out of their past twelve encounters since 2015.
Defence guru Joe El-Abd disclosed: “We’ve got an insider in the rugby league circles and that helps. We do our homework and he’s someone we’ve followed in rugby league circles. We’ve looked at the footage and know he’s a physical player.
“We don’t have a lot of footage of him playing union but we can see what talent he is. We know we need to be alive and bring our game to him and to Australia.”
Ollie Lawrence of England is poised to take on Suaalii after being shuffled to 13 – a position he occupies at Bath – in a tactical trade-off with team-mate Henry Slade, famed for his ball distribution skills.
Lawrence, alongside Sinfield, has been brushing up on NRL tactics in anticipation of curbing the precocious Wallaby debutant.
Lawrence stated: “It’s obviously difficult because he’s just switched codes and so we’ve been looking at the league side of things. I’ve seen a lot of his footy over the years and he’s been an incredible player.
“If you just look at his stature, he’s a big lad at 6’5” and he’s quick, so you know you have to take that time and space away from him as quickly as possible.
“There’s definitely a bit of unknown about him and we don’t know how he will step up in that environment of playing rugby union on one of the biggest stages there is in international rugby.
“There will be an element of the unknown, but I’m excited to go up against world-class players.”
Lawrence, who plays centre, will be a crucial part of England’s attacking game after being largely inactive with ball in hand in last week’s 24-22 defeat to New Zealand.
The Bath player carried the ball only twice in that match and is aiming to be more proactive on the front foot and help England cross the gain line.
“It was frustrating,” Lawrence admitted. “Definitely for me personally, there was an expectation from me to help the team go forward with the ball.
“It is definitely something I’m working on to get more touches on the ball. whether that’s getting into the right position and offering myself up.
“The more I can get my hands on the ball, get the team moving and get us momentum, then the more we can play as an attacking unit.
“We’ve got an insider in the rugby league circles and that helps. We do our homework and he’s someone we’ve followed in rugby league circles. We’ve looked at the footage and know he’s a physical player.
“The number on the shirt doesn’t make too much difference. It’s just a great opportunity for me. Me and Sladey have been interchangeable at 12 and 13.
“For me it’s the tactical aspect and we spoke about that to the coaches this week. It’s something we think we can explore and hopefully it will get the best out of both of us.”
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