{"id":340706,"date":"2025-12-11T02:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T02:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/340706\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T02:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T02:06:10","slug":"the-five-centres-behind-joseph-aukuso-suaalii-in-rugbypass-top-100-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/340706\/","title":{"rendered":"The five centres behind Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in RugbyPass Top 100 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii shot up 14 places on the RugbyPass Top 100 in 2025<\/a>, reflecting the code-hopper\u2019s impressive first 12 months in rugby union. Suaalii has been ranked ahead of five other centres, including Ireland\u2019s Bundee Aki<\/a> and New Zealand\u2019s Leicester<\/a> Fainga\u2019anuku.<\/p>\n

Suaalii made four appearances for the Wallabies in 2024 after completing a high-profile move across codes from the NRL. The midfielder received Player of the Match honours on debut against England<\/a> before finishing the season as the 68th-ranked\u00a0player in the Top 100.<\/p>\n

Rugby Australia\u2019s big-name recruit charged into a Lions<\/a> Series year with a wealth of expectation resting on his shoulders. Suaalii impressed for both club and country, named in the Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> Team of the Year and recognised as Rugby Australia\u2019s Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old started 14 of 15 Wallabies matches this year, linking up with John Eales<\/a> Medallist Len Ikitau<\/a> more often than not. Those two combined in all three Tests against the British & Irish Lions and the famous comeback win over the Springboks in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

Suaalii scored a try and played the full 80 minutes as the Wallabies fought their way back from 22 points down to win 38-22 at Emirates Airline Park. The former Sydney Roosters flyer featured in every Rugby Championship<\/a> fixture, scoring three tries in two matches against Los Pumas.<\/p>\n

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt fielded a new-look side against Eddie Jones\u2019 Brave Blossoms in Japan, with Suaalii rested alongside Max Jorgensen<\/a>, Fraser McReight<\/a> and others. Suaalii returned to face England, Italy, Ireland<\/a> and France<\/a> during the Spring Tour.<\/p>\n

World Rugby unveiled Suaallii as one of four nominees for Breakthrough Player of the Year during the Quilter Nations Series in November. That award went to New Zealand\u2019s Fabian Holland<\/a>, although Suaalii was nominated along with England\u2019s Henry Pollock<\/a> and South Africa\u2019s Ethan Hooker.<\/p>\n

11 journalists had their say after the 2025 international season, with Suaalii rewarded for a series of promising performances in Wallaby gold. While the Wallabies finished the campaign with a 33 per cent winning record, Suaalii was a shining light.<\/p>\n

Suaalii has been placed ahead of Peato Mauvaka<\/a>, Juan Cruz Mallia<\/a> and Jasper Wiese<\/a> in the Top 100. Tommaso Menoncello<\/a> from Italy<\/a> is the highest-ranked centre behind Suaalii in 59th, followed by British & Irish Lion Garry Ringrose<\/a> nine spots back.<\/p>\n

Aki from Ireland has dropped 52 spots after splitting his last 10 Tests with five starts and a handful of appearances off the pine. The New Zealand-born talent featured in all three matches for the British & Irish Lions, including starts in the second and third Tests.<\/p>\n

Fainga\u2019anuku has earned a spot in the Top 100 after returning to the Test arena under coach Scott Robertson. The All Black spent a couple of seasons in France\u2019s Top with Toulon, but has signed on with New Zealand<\/a> Rugby and the Crusaders<\/a> through 2027.<\/p>\n

The other centre in the Top 100 is Andrew Esterhuizen from the Sharks<\/a> and Springboks. Esterhuizen played both matches away to the All Blacks<\/a> during The Rugby Championship, scoring one try during the defeat at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

Suaalii is the sixth-biggest mover up in the Top 100 so far, just behind England\u2019s Ellis Genge<\/a> who has risen 19 places. Australia\u2019s Angus Bell<\/a>, New Zealand\u2019s Codie Taylor<\/a>, South Africa\u2019s Wiese and New Zealand\u2019s Caleb Clarke<\/a> have risen through the ranks as well.<\/p>\n

The top 10 will be revealed on Monday, December 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii shot up 14 places on the RugbyPass Top 100 in 2025, reflecting the code-hopper\u2019s impressive first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-340706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}