Rugby league convert Sua'ali'i in Wallabies squad for tour of Britain and Ireland

SYDNEY (AP) — Rugby league convert Joseph Sua'ali'i featured in the Australia squad named on Tuesday for the four-test tour of Britain and Ireland next month.

Beside Sua'ali'i, who has yet to play professional rugby union, the other uncapped players in the 34-man squad were also backs, New South Wales Waratahs flyhalf Tane Edmed and Western Force winger Harry Potter.

Japan-based center Samu Kerevi and France-based lock Will Skelton were also picked after last appearing for the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup a year ago in France.

The 21-year-old Sua’ali’i signed a reported A$5.3 million ($3.5 million) contract with the Australian Rugby Union last year. But he didn’t officially switch codes until last week, after helping the Sydney Roosters reach the National Rugby League playoffs for a third straight year.

He's contracted to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Sua’ali’i hasn't played rugby union since 2018 but he's played rugby league to the highest level.

He played for Samoa when it reached its first final at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup in England, and appeared in the State of Origin this year.

“Having had him at the (training) hub in Canberra last week, he’s a kid who works hard on his game and very quick to pick things up,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said on Tuesday.

“We just want to make sure that we give him the best runway possible to try and get involved in the Wallabies. Part of it is that we play the (British and Irish) Lions next year so if he doesn’t debut on this tour, there’s a very little window — maybe one opportunity — to play before the Lions (tour) and that would be it.

“We feel a little bit of pressure to be able to fast-track him.”

Sua’ali’i has played center and wing but Schmidt wouldn’t say where he will put him.

“I’ve seen enough of him play as a rugby league player in the midfield and have got really good feedback from others players about him in the schools system,” he said.

The Wallabies leave next week on the 40th anniversary of their one and only Grand Slam tour of the home nations.

They’ll recreate it with tests against England on Nov. 9, Wales on Nov. 17, Scotland on Nov. 24, and Ireland on Nov. 30.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Samoa's Joseph Sua’ali’i in action during the Rugby League World Cup quarterfinal match between Tonga and Samoa at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington, England, Sunday Nov. 6, 2022. (Tim Goode/PA via AP)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)