Eddie Jones heaps praise on Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii ahead of British and Irish Lions series
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones believes Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is a rare talent and could be the difference in the upcoming Lions series but has worries over injuries to key big men.
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones believes Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has the potential to break open the Lions series but fears key injuries in the forwards could rob Australia of two of their most important enforcers.
Jones rated Suaalii the greatest aerial threat in all of Australian sport and – perhaps for the first time in his entire coaching career – actually agreed with a summation by his nemesis Clive Woodward that the slow starts shown by the British and Irish Lions thus far on tour could be a weakness exposed by the Wallabies.
“Australia is dangerous mate, they’ve got a young team and Joe Schmidt who has done a really good job there and they’ve got a young bloke called Suaalii who is out of this world,” Jones said on TalkSport radio in the UK.
“He wins the ball better than anyone I’ve seen in the air in any of the sports in Australia.
“He is a big guy, a serious competitor and he brings a point of difference to the Australian team that they haven’t had previously.
“If Suaalii can do something special at the start of the game and put the Wallabies on the front foot then Clive might be right and it might be the first time he might be right.”
Australia’s preparations for the Lions series were rocked earlier this week when Will Skelton and Rob Valetini were both ruled out of the Wallabies Test with Fiji in Newcastle on Saturday with calf issues.
Jones said the duo were key planks in the Australian pack and essential to the Wallabies’ chances against the Lions in the first Test in Brisbane on July 19.
“Skelton, having coached him in the 2023 World Cup, he is more than a player,” Jones said.
“He is a guy that galvanises the team.
“He is a huge man, 6’8, 135 or 140 kgs, but when he talks he talks in very soft way but he brings that little bit of steel and bit of belief.
“And Valetini is probably the most abrasive of all the Australian backrowers
“He has a consistency about his play. If those two guys are out that would severely dent Australia’s chances.”
Jones also weighed in on the player availability issue, with the Lions increasingly upset at Australia for not releasing all their players for the state teams in tour matches.
He said it was all part of Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt’s plan to make sure Australia gets the jump in the first Test, with a fit and cohesive unit while the Lions come in underdone by a run of easier games.
“I reckon Joe (Schmidt) doesn’t want the Lions to have tough games mate,” he said.
“He has got his players in camp and they’re probably having an elongated pre-season, they’re playing on the back of a Super rugby season so most of them are match fit so he is just using this three or four weeks to get them super fit and get them super cohesive.
“The first Test, like most three Test series, is going to be the most important game.”
Jones said the Lions wins over Western Force and Queensland Reds need to be seen in the context of big wins over lowly rated and understrength provincial outfits and that “when the defence is going backwards you all look sharp.”
However he said the depth of the Lions squad and power off the bench would cause the most trouble for the Wallabies.
“I reckon their collective power is the thing that will trouble Australia,” he said.
“The backline is handy but not outstanding. I don’t think you will see free-flowing rugby from the Lions but I think you will see a lot of power, a lot of direct play.
“Finn Russell will play around the edges a bit and he is capable of throwing a really good pass and creating a kicking opportunity for his wingers.
“I think they will play pretty direct and pretty powerful and Finn Russell will bring a little bit of extra for them.”
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