{"id":901999,"date":"2026-09-23T02:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T02:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901999\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T02:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T02:36:18","slug":"wallabies-vs-springboks-2026-team-news-joseph-aukuso-suaalii-moved-to-wing-for-australia-vs-south-africa-test-in-perth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901999\/","title":{"rendered":"Wallabies vs Springboks 2026 team news: Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii moved to wing for Australia vs South Africa Test in Perth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii<\/a> might have been showered in praise by the Springboks<\/a> this week, but Les Kiss<\/a> has bitten the bullet and is set to name Australian rugby\u2019s $5 million man on the wing for the Wallabies<\/a> for the first time.<\/p>\n

Despite Kiss previously saying he saw Suaalii as a centre, nine.com.au understands the code-hopper will be named on the wing for Sunday\u2019s crunch Test against the world champions in Perth.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in action against Argentina.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

It will be the first time the 23-year-old will have been named in the outside backs for the Wallabies, having previously started in the No.13 jersey in 21 of his 23 Tests.<\/p>\n

In the other two Tests, Suaalii came off the bench.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood the 196cm, 100kg back will form a back three trio alongside Max Jorgensen and fullback Tom Wright.<\/p>\n

Suaalii\u2019s shift to the outside backs is expected to see Hunter Paisami return at inside centre, with Len Ikitau understood to be his midfield partner.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first time the duo will have started together since Dave Rennie named the pair to start against Ireland in Dublin on November 20, 2022.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the backline, it\u2019s believed Ben Donaldson will once again wear the No.10, having returned to the position for the Wallabies\u2019 28-all draw against Argentina in Mendoza.<\/p>\n

His retention comes after regular first-choice playmaker Carter Gordon fractured his fibula during the draw in Argentina.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the biggest gamble is on the bench, with Kiss expected to go in with a forwards-heavy 6-2 bench split, which will see Harry Potter named in the No.23 jersey.<\/p>\n

It means that Kiss has opted against including a specialist playmaker on his bench, with neither Declan Meredith nor uncapped playmaker Harry McLaughlin-Phillips included.<\/p>\n

Halfback Ryan Lonergan and Paisami, who spent time in the No.10 jersey as a teenager, are believed to be cover in the role should anything happen to Donaldson.<\/p>\n

After a roller-coaster career to date in the gold jersey for Donaldson, the Test looms as a potentially career-defining moment for the Force playmaker, especially with Tom Lynagh recently making his comeback for the Reds and veterans Bernard Foley and James O\u2019Connor, as well as Japan-based Noah Lolesio, waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n

The forward pack is expected to be close to full strength, with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto to provide some impact off the bench.<\/p>\n

Tom Hooper and Carlo Tizzano could also feature off the bench in a match which is expected to go up in speed in the second half, especially after masterful Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus named a bomb squad of epic proportion by including Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, Wilco Louw and Jasper Wiese, who all featured prominently for the world champions in their 3-1 series win over the All Blacks, as replacements.<\/p>\n

Despite Erasmus naming his side on Tuesday night, Kiss will confirm his team on Friday afternoon as the Wallabies’ new coach bids to keep his\u00a0five-match unbeaten streak alive since replacing Joe Schmidt.<\/p>\n

Suaalii\u2019s inclusion on the wing has long been called for and his presence on the wing should help Australia in the aerial contest against the Springboks, who have the athletic and aerial star Ethan Hooker out wide.<\/p>\n

Wallabies great Lote Tuqiri, who featured on the wing in the 2003 World Cup final and climbed high to score the only try of the match, believes Suaalii should be let loose out wide to \u201cfly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan Turinui is another who has called for Suaalii to move to the outside backs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never want to see Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii play 13 again,\u201d Turinui said on Stan Sport\u2019s Between Two Posts recently.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph-Aukuso<\/p>\n

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is returning to the Wallabies squad.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHis skill set has to be in the back three.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others, including double World Cup-winning Springboks outside centre Jesse Kriel, disagree.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an incredible athlete, what a great addition for world rugby that he\u2019s come over and made the switch,\u201d said Kriel, who will be wrapped in cotton wool against the Wallabies after a big month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the media over here give him enough credit. I think people are quick to point fingers, but he\u2019s probably playing in the position that\u2019s defensively the most difficult position on the field, and he\u2019s made that transition seamlessly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then when he\u2019s got the ball, he\u2019s a whole bag of tricks. He\u2019s so quick. He\u2019s got incredible ability to win balls in the air, and he nearly just jumps higher than everyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s been really, really good. He\u2019s one of the tougher centres you come up against, and hopefully if I get the opportunity, it\u2019ll be really good to go up against him next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Erasmus has rested several of his big names, including captain Siya Kolisi, the Springboks coach said he expected his wider squad to take the opportunity presented after waiting patiently in the wings for a chance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks have been staying on the Central Coast this week.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a balance, I know, from fans, from the media, from supporters, from everybody to understand, guys, are we building to the World Cup or are we trying to win between World Cups? Now, we\u2019re trying to do both of them. And sometimes you have to roll the dice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe rolled the dice a little bit against (the) All Blacks. We were playing consistently the same team and obviously getting some momentum as it goes on longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if we keep on doing that, when we get to the Nations Championship at the end of the year or at the World Cup next year, what can the next guy do?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we went to Argentina, a lot of these guys also played there, and it was a bit of a stop-starter and a non-cohesive performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to fire from the start, but I can tell you that they\u2019re really hungry. They really want to play, and they\u2019ve been idling for a hell of a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch Wallabies vs Springboks and the Bledisloe Cup.\u00a0Add the Stan Sport package<\/a>\u00a0to watch rugby live and on demand with no ad-breaks in play<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii might have been showered in praise by the Springboks this week, but Les Kiss has bitten…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-901999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901999","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=901999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}