Joseph Sua’ali’i, Australian rugby's expensive gamble, is fast-tracked for debut against England

Time is of the essence for the purported savior of Australian rugby.

There'll be no easing in 21-year-old Joseph Sua’ali’i after his expensive, much-hyped switch to the 15-man code.

Less than a month after hopping over from rugby league, Sua’ali’i will be lining up at Twickenham, one of rugby's storied stadiums, against England, one of the world's top teams, on Saturday.

Talk about a baptism of fire for someone who has never played a senior game of rugby.

“If not now, when?” Australia coach Joe Schmidt proffered.

The end-of-season European tour, which starts against England and includes further test matches against Wales, Scotland and Ireland, provides Australia with its final games before the visit of the British and Irish Lions for a tour starting in June next year.

Schmidt felt like he had no choice but to throw in Sua’ali’i.

After all, Sua’ali’i is richly talented, is full of self-belief and is someone Rugby Australia, which is hardly flush with cash, is betting the house on after handing him a contract worth 5.3 million Australian dollars ($3.5 million) for three years to the 2027 Rugby World Cup. It all comes in a tough period for an ailing rugby giant languishing at No. 9 in the world rankings.

No wonder Sua'ali'i is all the rage at the moment.

“We don’t do press conferences about the team anymore. We do them around Joseph,” Schmidt said.

“It’s unusual,” Schmidt added about the player's fast-tracking, "but we have a very limited time frame. We have these four weeks, then six months where they go back to Super Rugby teams and you get a couple of weeks before a massive Lions test that the whole country, certainly the rugby community in Australia, is excited about. We need to plan for that.”

Sua’ali’i, a strapping, skilful and fast runner, will play at outside center against an England team coming off a frustrating 24-22 loss to New Zealand last weekend.

He last played in the 15-man code as a winger, for Australian Schoolboys in a victory over New Zealand in 2019 when he was alongside current Wallaby Josh Flook. He was also a teammate of Australia captain Angus Bell. Since then, Sua'ali'i has become a star in rugby league, playing for Samoa when it reached the World Cup final in 2022, for Sydney Roosters in the NRL and also in the State of Origin.

Schmidt has been around Sua'ali'i for the past couple of weeks and describes him as a “very professional young man.”

“He is meticulous with his planning before he even gets to his preparation,” Schmidt said. “He asks a lot of questions — most guys who come in are relatively shy. He is a very humble young man but he is forthright about his preparation."

Helping Sua’ali’i to get his chance is that centers Hunter Paisami and Flook are unavailable for Australia's first test match since a 33-13 loss to the All Blacks in Wellington in the Rugby Championship. That was one of five losses in six games in that competition for the Wallabies.

England's recent record isn't much better, having lost five of its last seven tests dating to late February. The last three defeats have all come against the All Blacks, with England throwing away final-quarter leads on each occasion and losing by a combined total of 10 points.

“We can’t be making excuses. As players we have to step up and be more consistent,” England flanker Tom Curry said.

“We won’t make promises, but we’ve not been good enough. In the last quarter we as players definitely have to stand up. It’s about the full 80 minutes.

England coach Steve Borthwick selected an unchanged team for Saturday's game.

Teams:

England: George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer; Ben Earl, Tom Curry, Chandler Cunningham-South, George Martin, Maro Itoje, Will Stuart, Jamie George (captain), Ellis Genge. Reserves: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Ollie Sleightholme.

Australia: Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch, Noah Lolesio, Jake Gordon; Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Nick Frost, Taniela Tupou, Matt Faessler, Angus Bell (captain). Reserves: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Max Jorgensen.

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

England's players show dejection, at the end of the Autumn Nations Series rugby match between England and New Zealand, at Twickenham stadium, in London Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

England's head coach Steve Borthwick, left, chats with a player as the team warm up for the Autumn Nations Series rugby match between England and New Zealand, at Twickenham stadium, in London Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

FILE- A Nov.19, 2022 file photo of Samoa's rugby player Joseph Suaali'i made available on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Tim Goode/PA via AP)

Joseph Sua’ali’i, Australian rugby's expensive gamble, is fast-tracked for debut against England

FILE- A Nov.19, 2022 file photo of Samoa's rugby player Joseph Suaali'i made available on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Tim Goode/PA via AP)

Joseph Sua’ali’i, Australian rugby's expensive gamble, is fast-tracked for debut against England

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)