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Joseph Suaalii was hailed as a ‘freak’ by his Australian midfield partner Len Ikitau after an eye-catching performance against England in his first professional rugby match.
The former rugby league star won the man-of-the-match award in the visitors’ 42-37 win over Twickenham on Saturday and is now turning his focus to Wales.
“He’s a freak, man,” Ikitau told a Wallabies press conference in Cardiff ahead of Sunday’s match.
“It’s great to be able to play alongside him and see what he can do on the pitch. And we just expect more from him now that he’s had his first match.
“We all saw that during training. He came in, did what he had to learn and just demonstrated his skills on the field.
“I loved seeing him defend the 13th Channel. He just wanted to be involved and get the ball.”
Former Wallabies flank Stephen Hoiles and continue speaking Stan Sport is between two postssaid he believes Suaalii can match and even surpass Israel Folau’s success with Australia.
“Absolutely, we do. Whether he does it or not, there will be a lot of things involved,” Hoiles said.
“You see Izzy in rugby league and Izzy was great in rugby league but he was on the edge and they had to kick to him and they had to work the ball to him so it wasn’t that easy to get him in the game . a rugby league player for the Broncos and the Storm.
“And you knew where he was going to get the ball. You knew he would be wing or center in rugby league.
“Joseph is the same, he is a wing or center in rugby league. You know how to double a center in rugby league.
“So many things are changing in rugby and it’s very difficult to figure out where a player like that is going to get the ball.
“He has more skills in rugby and he has such good instincts for the game. I think he will be a better player than Folau. I think he has more in him, he is higher, he has a bigger jump. I think we are on to the next superstar of Australian rugby and it couldn’t come at a better time.”
Warren Gatland’s Wales are just one defeat away from losing a record 11th consecutive Test match after a 24-19 reversal against Fiji and the Wallabies will be confident of recording a 10th win after their past 12 visits to Cardiff.
Suaalii will be at the heart of that, and even though they haven’t met him in person yet, Wales knows all about him.
“Really impressive,” is how Wales flyhalf Gareth Anscombe described Suaalii’s masterclass.
“He made the game look pretty easy, didn’t he?” said Anscombe. “But look, it will be a good challenge and I’m sure he will probably start in midfield.
“I thought he had a sensational debut. He was dangerous, good in the air and a pretty good player.”
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images