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Wallabies update Suaalii's condition after 'severe pain' and loss of arm function

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of Australia reacts as he leaves the field following medical treatment after picking up an injury during the Autumn Nations Series 2024 match between Scotland and Australia at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on November 24, 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s hopes of finishing his first Wallabies tour with a flourish against Ireland are still alive after a more positive update on the injury blow he suffered against Scotland.

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The code-hopping superstar thankfully avoided breaking his right arm in the bone-shuddering hit he put on fellow Aussie Sione Tuipulotu, Scotland’s captain, in the first half of the Wallabies’ defeat at Murrayfield, and the pain of the knock is subsiding.

“After making a tackle yesterday, Joseph Suaalii lost function and had severe pain in his right arm and was substituted,” a team statement from Dublin said.

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“Since full time and after travelling with the team to Ireland, his function is returning, and pain is subsiding.

“He was medically reviewed post-game and there is no evidence of a fracture and will be monitored throughout the week.”

Of course, there’s no question that coach Joe Schmidt would risk playing Rugby Australia’s $5 million man if there is any possibility of causing any serious long-term damage in Saturday’s (Sunday AEDT) tour finale at Lansdowne Road, so his chances may still be slim with such a short turnaround between Tests.

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But after initial reports the 21-year-old had suffered a broken wrist at Murrayfield, an outcome which could have kept his rugby education on ice for another two months, this counted as a real boost following the deflation of the end of their ‘grand slam’ hopes in Edinburgh with the 27-13 defeat.

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NRL convert Suaalii had begun the tour in spectacular fashion, starting at outside centre in the thrilling win over England and annexing the man of the match award in his first game of rugby since he was a schoolboy.

He then enjoyed a late cameo off the bench in the hammering of Wales, before making a promising start for half-an-hour against the Scots with a couple of good runs, causing another touch of aerial mayhem at a restart and defending pretty well.

The thunderous tackle which sent Tuipulotu flying caused the problem, and also led to the pair exchanging angry words before Suaalii had to come straight off and never returned as he nursed a numb arm.

There was some more good news for the tourists as lock Jeremy Williams, who had been ruled out of Scotland match on the morning of the Test with illness, was reported to be “recovering positively” in the Irish capital.

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1 Comment
C
Cantab 15 days ago

Australia will need their best team to be at least competitive against the Irish. Ireland are a much stronger team than Scotland.

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JW 1 hour ago
'It doesn’t make sense for New Zealand to deny itself access to world-class players'

There are a couple of inadequacies in this articles points as well.


First

Robertson, in what he has said publicly, is building his argument for change as a means to close the gap that is increasing between the All Blacks and South Africa.

Based on recent performances, the All Blacks are better than the Springboks.


Second

Both games saw the All Blacks lead coming into the last 30 minutes, only for the momentum to shift dramatically once the two sides emptied their respective benches.

The failings of the second half were game plan related, they happened regardless of whether the bench had yet (play got worse very early in the half, even in the first half) been used or not.


And third

Robertson’s view is that because the Boks don’t lose access to their experienced players when they head offshore, it gives them an advantage

Didn't Razor have the most experienced team all year?


Also

“Sam Cane and Ardie Savea with Wallace Siti, what a balance that is.

This is part of Razor's problem. That's a terrible balance. You instead want something like Sam Cane, Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Sititi. Or Ardie Savea, Sititi, Scott Barrett. Dalton Papaili'i, Savea, Finau. That is balance, not two old struggling to keep up players and an absolute rookie.

It has changed. Not many go north, more go to Japan, so how do we get the balance right to ensure that players who have given loyalty, longevity and who are still playing well

Experience is a priceless commodity in international rugby and New Zealand has a system where it throws away players precisely when they are at their most valuable.

You mean how do we take advantage of this new environment, because nothing has effectively changed has it. It's simply Japan now instead of Europe. What's it going to be like in the future, how is the new American league going to change things?


Mo'unga is the only real valid reason for debating change, but what's far more important is the wide discussion happening that's taking the whole game into account. The current modem throws players away because they decided to go with a 5 team model rather than a 12 or 14 team model. Players have to be asked to leave at the point were we know they aren't going to be All Blacks, when they are playing their best rugby, reached their peak. In order to reset, and see if the next guy coming through can improve on the 'peak' of the last guy. Of course it's going to take years before they even reach the departing players standards, let alone see if they can pass them.


What if there can be a change that enables New Zealand to have a model were players like Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ethan Roots, Warner Dearns are All Blacks that make their experienced and youth developemnt the envy of the World. That is the discussion that really needs to be had, not how easy it is to allow Mo'unga to play again. That's how the All Blacks end up winning 3 World Cups in a row.

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