Scotland coach says Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii making improved Wallabies even better ahead of clash

The rugby world is buzzing about code-hopper Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii ‘s Wallabies arrival but the real reason for two massive wins in the UK lies elsewhere.

The addition of boom young gun Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has been good for the Wallabies but the platform laid by new coach Joe Schmidt before his arrival has been the catalyst for the form turnaround which has the Australians on the verge of a 40-year first after a “pretty grim” 2023.

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend labelled code-hopper Suaalii “world class already” ahead of the clash with the “improved” Wallabies in Edinburgh this weekend on the back of big wins over first England then Wales.

Townsend also labelled Schmidt a “brilliant coach” who only needed time to bring the best out of the Wallabies echoing the thoughts of Australian scrum-half Nic White who said his teammates weren’t surprised with the past two results which have created the prospect of a first UK grand slam since 1984.

“No, I think it’s not surprised us,” White, who was part of the 52-20 thumping of Wales last weekend said.

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“We were quite frustrated in the TRC [Rugby Championship] with a couple of results. We’ve been working hard and the results the last couple of weeks have been off the back of a lot of that hard work. But we fully understand we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us at where we want to be. We were a bee’s away from being on the wrong side of that result in England.

“We did some good things in the game [against Wales] on the weekend. There’s plenty we need to work on and we’ve been working at that. It’s good to see parts of our game starting to come together.

“We know we’re up against a different side this week. We’re going to have to be a lot better to come to Murrayfield and get a result against a Scottish side that’s really bloody good at the moment. We’re excited by that challenge, but like I said, we’re under no illusion as to the hard work that needs to go in to prepare ourselves to be able to put a performance out there that we’re happy with.

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“Joe said it right from the start: you’ve got to earn it each week and that starts today.

“This belief has slowly been built off the back of trust.

“It was pretty grim last year. We’ve been slowly building away at a game plan that Joe wants to play, inching closer to the finished product that we’d like to be some day down the road. We may never get there – but aim towards it.”

Scottish coach Townsend said he Wallabies were a different prospect to the team Schmidt took over following Eddie Jones’ catastrophic tenure, boosted by performing against the world’s best.

“Just playing the Rugby Championship you’re better on the back of that because you’ve got six games against three of the top teams in the world now – Argentina are obviously in the top five and South Africa and New Zealand are in the top two, so getting that experience to play each of those teams twice will make you better,” he said.

“Joe Schmidt, who’s a brilliant coach, has spent time with them now and they have some really good players.”

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii made a stunning debut against England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“They may have gone through a little dip but they’ve got all their squad available and they’ve even been able to make changes in the back of England and bring in guys like [Will] Skelton and Kerevi could make them stronger going into the game. It’s going to be a very tough game.”

Townsend was also full of prise for Suaalii who made an immediate impact in his debut Test against England, just weeks after his final NRL game for the Sydney Roosters.

“I thought some of his touches were incredible,” Townsend said.

“For your first game of union, it’s a|Test match at Twickenham, and you’re able to offload lovely soft touches and he’ll take a lot of confidence out of that and I just really know they’ve got a world-class footballer already.”