Dave Rennie moves to lock in super teen Joseph Suaalii signed by Rabbitohs

There was only one player the new Wallabies coach met with during his Australian visit. It wasn’t Michael Hooper.

Joseph Suaalii with Wayne Bennett and John Sutton after signing with South Sydney

There was only one player Wallabies coach Dave Rennie met with one-on-one during his flying visit to Australia, and it wasn’t Test captain Michael Hooper or indeed any player contracted to one of the four Super Rugby franchises. It was 16-year-old Joseph Suaalii.

The Year 11 student at The King’s School in Sydney has been signed by NRL club South Sydney until the end of 2021, but the fact Rennie made a special trip to Penrith during his meet-and-greet trip to Australia last week is a fair indicator that Suaalii could figure in his plans for the next Rugby World Cup in 2023.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is keen to make Joseph Suaalii a Wallaby

By that stage, Suaalii, who first played GPS First XV rugby when he was just 14, would be 19, the same age as Jordan Petaia when he made his Wallabies debut on the wing at last year’s World Cup tournament in Japan, before moving to outside centre for the quarter-final against England.

After the success of Petaia in that tournament, Australia would have no hesitation in thrusting ­another super-talented teenager into a World Cup environment, ­although some observers believe Suaalli even has the potential to eclipse Brian Ford as the youngest Wallaby ever (Ford was 18 years and three months when he played a solitary Test against the All Blacks in Brisbane in 1957).

Whether the international schedule would make it possible for Suaalii to play Test football ­before reaching that age is doubtful but the mere fact that such things have been discussed gives some indication of the promise Rugby Australia sees in him.

He played on the wing for the Australian Under 18 side that beat their New Zealand counterparts last year for the first time in seven years, although he is regarded in much the same light as a young ­Israel Folau — a fullback, winger or outside centre.

Though Suaalii’s fame has spread far and wide, it’s a fair bet that word of him had not yet reached Scotland where Rennie is serving out his contract with the Glasgow Warriors before moving full-time to Australia. It is understood Rugby Australia’s director of rugby, Scott Johnson — who has quickly settled in to one of his roles as talent-spotter at large — set up the meeting between Suaalii and the Wallabies coach at Penrith.

Junior Wallabies coach Jason Gilmore has high hopes for Joseph Suaalii

While Suaalii has signed with the Rabbitohs, that in no way bars him from being involved in any rugby development sides, and the code does not view his decision to play for South Sydney as a final indicator of where he sees his future.

“My first engagement with him was on that Australian Under 18 tour,” Junior Wallabies coach Jason Gilmore said. “I’d never met him before but on the trip he was excellent. I was probably more impressed with his off-field approach to his footy … he was really keen to learn and is a humble young man. He has obviously been brought up really well. He is obviously a player of interest in a couple of codes so it is going to be a competitive ­recruitment catch but we certainly see a lot of value in him.”

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Gilmore said Suaalii was very similar to Mark Nawaqanitawase, the former Junior Wallabies winger who scored two tries for the Waratahs on his Super Rugby debut against the Crusaders at the weekend. “He is going to be 6ft3in (190cm), long limbs, really good aerial skills and a genuine bloke that can beat tackles one-on-one. He is a genuine point-of-difference player in your football team,” Gilmore said.

Meanwhile, a text message sent by Wallabies halfback Will Genia straight after the Rebels’ shock 36-27 loss to the Sunwolves in Fukuoka on Saturday has helped Melbourne coach Dave Wessels put the defeat into perspective.

Genia, who played last season for the Rebels before moving to the Kintetsu Liners in Japan, ­neatly summed up the situation: “These (Super Rugby) seasons aren’t won in Round One.”

Wessels recognised the truth in what he was saying.

“In the past we have started strongly and faded away, so this is the wake-up call we needed,” he told The Australian. “I think the players are probably feeling pretty frustrated and, in a sense, embarrassed with our performance. I fully expect us to bounce back (against the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday) and maybe that will be the catalyst for us to go on and have a good season.”

As coach of the Western Force in their final season, 2017, Wessels found it easy enough to put himself in the position of the Sunwolves, who will leave Super Rugby at the end of this season.

In those raw and emotional times, teams can rise heroically to the ­occasion.

“Somewhere along the way we forgot that rugby is a contact sport,” he said. “They got the better of us in the contact areas. That was really unacceptable from our side.”