Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii reveals thoughts on Wallabies wing switch

Wallabies utility Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has embraced the opportunity to play a new position, believing the chance to line up on the wing has been an important part of his journey to becoming “a great rugby player.”

Suaalii had only ever started at outside centre for the national team before coach Les Kiss made a headline-grabbing selection call ahead of the Perth Test against the Springboks. Kiss shifted ‘Su’ from the midfield to the wing, with Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau forming the centre pairing instead.

The 23-year-old rose highest to claim the opening kick-off against the Boks, and contributed to two tries during the first half. Kiss retained the now 26-Test Wallaby in that role for the Bledisloe Cup series opener in Auckland, which the All Blacks won 50-19.

Suaalii took the first hit-up of any Wallaby on the night, receiving the ball off a scrum and running a direct line at the defence. But the visitors were forced into a change around the 30-minute mark, with outside back Harry Potter coming on for Ikitau.

“It’s been good. I played a lot of juniors on the wing, played a lot of juniors at centre as well,” Suaalii told reporters in Sydney.

“Part of my journey of learning to be a great rugby player is to learn different positions and I’m enjoying it.”

The Wallabies were on a six-match unbeaten run before facing the All Blacks at the Garden, with Kiss overseeing five of those Tests after taking over from Joe Schmidt. That run included a 42-38 win over the Springboks in Perth and a 28-all draw away to Los Pumas.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks were looking to avoid unwanted history in their last home Test of the year, following three straight defeats to the Springboks. The New Zealanders were also looking to extend their unbeaten run at Eden Park, which stood at 53 Tests before last weekend.

It was a three point ball game at the break, but the All Blacks ran away with it in the second term, starting with a Cam Roigard try eight minutes in. Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan also got on the scoresheet, as the All Blacks brought up a half century.

“There’s a belief in the group that we work hard. We reviewed the game brutally and honestly as well. I feel that’s one thing you do after a loss and also the last seven games we had,” Suaalii said.

“We can just sit here and talk about the last week we had against the All Blacks but we had great momentum going into that.

“It’s not just looking at least week and just feeling it focused on last week. There’s a bigger plan to what we’re doing… we’re real confident that this week we’ll be great.”

Suaalii believes the Wallabies “owe it to the fans” this week, as they get ready for their final home Test of 2026. The Wallabies will take part in a historic quadruple header at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, with the four Teams in Gold involved.

The Wallaroos face Scotland in a WXV Global Series fixture, before both the women’s and men’s Australia Sevens side take the field. It’s the first time all four Australian teams will play at the same venue.

“The biggest thing for us, we had fans come to that Ireland [Test], that was sold out. Every home game we’ve had has been sold out.

“We’ve had so much support around us as Wallabies players and every home game we’ve had, it’s been sold out. We owe it to the fans, we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the jersey.

“We don’t just play for us, we have a whole fan base, we have families, we have teammates who don’t get picked… even though we can’t play for the Bledisloe this week, it’s very important for us this week to put a performance out there.”