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<\/a> <\/p>\nEx-All Black James Parsons has reached the end of his tether watching the Wallabies fail to capitalise on Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii\u2019s X-factor in the air, saying \u201cit\u2019s eating me up at night.\u201d<\/p>\n
After overcoming a Springboks side that feasted on the All Blacks<\/a>\u2018 aerial frailties in the Greatest Rivalry tour, the Wallabies struggled to handle New Zealand\u2019s aerial revival in the Bledisloe Cup series, with their 196 cm freak athlete, Suaalii, barely featuring in the aerial contest.<\/p>\n Much of the debate around the 23-year-old has centred on his best position, with a brief stint on the wing giving the Wallabies some big aerial plays against South Africa, before midfield injuries saw him return to the No.13 jersey in the most recent outing.<\/p>\n But Parsons says he\u2019s tired of the debate, and wants to see Suaalii play to his fullest potential. The impassioned plea happened on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to sound like a broken record, and I need to stop saying it, but mate, Suaalii needs to get in the air,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just has to happen. It is killing me. It literally is. I think it\u2019s eating me up at night. I just don\u2019t understand how the hell they\u2019re not utilising it. Like, to me, that is an attacking platform.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of people asking the same question. Like, he is a multi-million-dollar paid-a-year player. Let\u2019s use it. I just genuinely do not understand it. Why could they do it with Israel<\/a> Folau, and why can they not do it with this guy?<\/p>\n \u201cThey could go to wing, they could go to fullback. Put him somewhere where he can make an impact, or do what we did with Jordie Barrett the week before and put him in a position to do something. I\u2019m actually sick of worrying about the number on his back. Let\u2019s just create something that puts him in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n In the weeks leading up to both Bledisloe Tests, All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie frequently referred to the stats around the aerial contest and how difficult it is for defending teams to deal with the high ball.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no side in the world dominating the ball\u00a0being kicked to them,\u201d Rennie said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the teams that kick the ball who are\u00a0winning a lot in the air, or getting a lot of scraps. It\u2019s about one in four that are caught clean by the receiving team.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow Aotearoa Rugby Pod analyst Bryn Hall had a few suggestions for getting Suaalii involved in the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThe easy way you can actually do that is off kickoffs, right? Put it in the middle of the field. There\u2019s usually one single lifter, or just a midfielder that\u2019s by himself. And that\u2019s like a 70-30, and you\u2019re straight into the game off a counter-attack, click-attack for the next 20 seconds, which Australia<\/a> like to do.<\/p>\n \u201cEven a (contestable kick), like straight from nine, put it right in the middle of the field. If all the guys are chasing back for the All Blacks, they\u2019ve got to come forward, and it\u2019s a 60-40.<\/p>\n \u201cTo Jip\u2019s point, they actually can manufacture scenarios for Suaalii to be able to get in the game, but for whatever reason, they\u2019re just not being able to use his skill set in the best way.\u201d<\/p>\n